Sonic Life
by PsychedelicFlame
Summary: Arya was adopted by the Cavallone family as a kid.  As a teenager, she met, fought with, and befriended Superbi Squalo.  Now, he's come back to ask her to join the Varia.  What can she do in this hectic mafia world? Disclaimer: I own nothing
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Hi! This is the first fanfiction I've ever published, so tell me what you think. I've already got the next couple of chapters written, but I wanna wait for some feedback before I post them. Thanks~

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><p>"VOOIIIIII! Weaklings like you should run away while you can!"<p>

The roar echoed through the hallways and drew the attention of a crowd. They were all watching a silver haired boy kick a pathetic looking blonde kid on the ground. He "VOOOIIIIII"ed again and bent over to pick up the bullied kid, when suddenly a pebble whacked him in the face. "VOOOIIIII! Who the hell did that?"

A slender girl made her way through the crowd and raised her hand calmly. The crowd was silent as the two opponents stared each other down. The girl was of average height, her hair was a silky pitch black with a single streak of purple in her side-swept bangs, her eyes matched the purple in her hair. She was wearing a pair of green converse, black skinny jeans and a green tank top, a jean jacket too big for her thrown over the tank top. The boy was rather tall, had muscle in all the right places, his messy silver hair emphasized his gray eyes. He had on black boots, light green plaid shorts, a white collared shirt that was halfway buttoned, and a loosely tied black tie.

The boy seemed to deem the girl a worthy opponent because he dropped the boy, and walked towards her confidently. Grabbing her collar, he growled, "What the fuck is your problem?"

"That's my brother you're picking on, dumbass," she growled back, "I think I have the right to defend him from people like you."

He drew his sword and slashed at her without warning. She skipped back, dodging in the nick of time, before taking out a short rod from her jacket. She fumbled with it for a moment and it lengthened into a staff. The crowd around them drew back in apprehension. The boy charged forward with a shout and began slashing at her in a series of complicated moves. The girl was blocking them but barely. He started another attack, but suddenly threw a fist in her face. Caught off guard, she could only slightly tilt her head to the side, lessening the impact. Nevertheless, she was thrown back a few feet. Breathing heavily, she raised her staff, and disconnecting it into three pieces connected by chains. Grasping the middle and one end firmly, she started twirling the last piece of the staff. Darting forward, she began countering the boy's attacks. He swung his sword at her, trying to avoid the chains. Distracted by the twirling hunk of metal in front of him, he didn't notice her leg lash forward. He was swept off his feet, but caught himself in time and back-flipped away from her.

The two were so focused on their battle that they didn't notice the teachers running towards them, apparently informed by someone in the crowd. Being a mafia school, they weren't too worried about the weapons and hostility that would always be present, but the start of a family war could be a problem. They separated the two and then dispersed the crowd. The boy looked at the girl and grinned, "Voii, what's your name bitch?"

She huffed indignantly, "Call me a bitch again and you'll find my staff shoved up your ass. I'm Arya of the Cavallone family. That's my brother, Dino Cavallone. He's the next Cavallone boss. And you?"

He roared with laughter, "That little brat is gonna be the next boss? Ha, the family would do better with you. Aren't you his sister? Why not you?"

She stiffened, "I'm adopted, and I don't believe you've answered my question yet?"

"Superbi Squalo. Remember that. And don't let anyone else beat you from now on, understand? You're my rival now."

She scoffed, "I wouldn't let myself be beat even without you telling me."

It was the beginning of a rivalry and friendship that would continue even after they had graduated.

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><p>"Vooiiii. Woman, stop tugging on my tie. You're gonna choke me."<p>

Arya huffed, "If you would just learn how to tie the damn thing, I wouldn't have to do this every time. This is our graduation, you know? At least try looking presentable for it, yeah?"

Squalo frowned, "We've done nothing but cause trouble the entire time we've been at this school, and suddenly, when we're about to _graduate_ you want to be a model student?"

"Calm down shark boy. I'm not a model student and I never will be. I just thought that since the big bosses will be showing up to see their kids graduate, we should at least pretend to behave."

He grunted in agreement reluctantly. Arya tugged one last time on his tie, stepped back and looked him over approvingly. The boy had grown even taller in the last few years. He hadn't lost any of the toned physique he had had when they first met, and would've been the subject of much admiration if it weren't for his violent disposition that scared away most girls (even so he had his fair share of fangirls). Now, wearing a black tux and silvery purple tie, he was looking fine, even in Arya's eyes. Having Dino as a brother had desensitized her to most forms of beauty.

Unknown to Arya, Squalo was thinking the same about her. Although the girl hadn't grown that much taller, she had filled out and had developed a nice figure. Her natural beauty had been emphasized with a tiny bit of makeup. She was wearing a simple black knee-length dress that clung to her curves. The diagonal strap that held it up was decorated with a delicate purple flower. At Dino's insistence, she had put on a diamond necklace that he had gotten her for the occasion (personally she thought that any form of jewelry was a hindrance in a fight).

Dino chose that moment to walk in. "Arya, I found these shoes for you. Try them o-" he tripped on his own feet, and the heels went flying across the room to smack Arya in the hand as she attempted to catch them.

"Mother f-"she swore, "Dino! I thought I said no heels longer than 2 inches? These are like fucking stilettos!"

The blond haired boy rubbed his forehead and got up slowly, "Ouch…Arya, those aren't stilettos. All the girls are wearing heels that high."

Arya stared at the shoes in her hand and proceeded to calmly throw herself out the door. Both of the boys lunged forward and grabbed her, pulling her back, as she struggled violently, protesting about the unequal treatment of footwear in men and women.

An hour later, a bruised Dino led a pouting Arya and an amused Squalo to the limo that would take them to their graduation ceremony. Arya was wearing the heels.

The ceremony was the last time Dino and Arya would see Squalo for a very long time.

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><p>Author's note:<p>

So...that's it for chapter 1. Thanks for reading! And don't forget to read and review~


	2. Chapter 2: Frustration

~A few years later~

Reborn had arrived to turn Dino into a capable boss, leaving only Arya without a purpose. While she trained daily, she was rarely sent on missions. Becoming increasingly frustrated, she was enraged when she heard news that she would be married to the son of an allied family. At their first meeting, Arya immediately took a dislike to the boy. He was arrogant and looked at her as if she were a piece of meat.

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><p>She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her fiancé, Biaggio of the Giegue family, eyed her again, grinning ludicrously. Unfortunately, the bosses had left, leaving the engaged couple to "bond". Arya was on the verge of slitting a couple of throats, but she restrained from doing so, knowing it wouldn't help her situation. Instead she opted for politely smiling through gritted teeth, as Biaggio attempted to grope her for the fifth time.<p>

This time, she couldn't move away, and she fought back tears of humiliation as his hand crept further up her thigh. All of a sudden, a loud VOOOIIIIII rang in the café. Biaggio jerked in surprise, allowing Arya to quickly move away, and then turn towards the sound with wide eyes. There, standing in the door of the café, was Superbi Squalo. Without thinking, she stumbled out of her seat and ran towards him, throwing herself into his waiting arms, still choking back sobs.

Squalo was surprised to say the least, to find the proud Arya Cavallone in his arms, on the verge of tears. He turned to glare at the man she had been sitting with, the look on his face promising pain. He gently handed the shaking girl to the man with him before stomping over to where Biaggio was trying not to pee in his pants. Grabbing the man by the collar, he growled, "I don't know what the fuck you've done to her, but in all the years I've known her, I have _never_ seen her cry. For you to have achieved something like that is unlucky for you scum."

He raised his sword clad left arm and brought it down sharply. To his shock, Arya threw herself forward and stopped him with her staff. The impact left her stunned. In the years that Squalo had been gone, he had gotten stronger than she could even imagine. Shaking off the pain, she hooked one of the parts of the staff over his sword and forced his hand down. "Squalo, stop. This is the son of the Giegue family. No matter how much you want to kill him, doing so would be incredibly destructive to the alliances between our families. Besides, I don't need you fighting my battles."

He voi-ed and pulled his sword away. Turning to the man, he said, "You're lucky she was here. I wouldn't have spared your life otherwise."

Without another glance, he grabbed Arya's hand and led her out of the café. Once outside, Arya rubbed her eyes angrily, muttering, "Shit. That was too close. I almost screamed. That would've been so bad. Ugh, I hate crying. Why am I crying?"

She turned to Squalo and punched him in the chest, using him as an outlet for her anger, "You asshole! Where have you been? Why didn't you tell anyone where you were going?"

He winced, and yelled, "VOOIII Woman! Will you stop hitting me? I'm gonna explain right now" He pointed at the man walking with them, "This is Xanxus. I've pledged my loyalty to him."

Arya examined the man. He had messy black hair and red eyes that were glaring angrily at her. He was dressed nicely in a white dress shirt, back pants and boots, and a loosely knotted tie. A jacket was resting on his shoulders. Arya glanced at him and then at Squalo. Both of them were wearing the same jacket, pants, and boots.

"I spent the last couple of years fighting strong swordsman and perfecting my technique. I challenged the leader of the Varia, Emperor Tyr, and defeated him. And now I'm second in command to Xanxus. I've sworn that I won't cut my hair until he becomes the tenth boss of the Vongola family."

Arya gaped at Squalo, "You beat Emperor Tyr? Just how strong have you gotten? And wait, if you beat Tyr, then why aren't you the Varia leader? What about Xanxus-?"

"His anger."

She faltered, "I'm sorry, what?"

Squalo repeated, "You heard me. Its his anger that compels me to follow him. His anger will allow us to rise to the top. Anyways, I've told you about as much as I can for now. The reason I came here, is because I want you to join the Varia."

She stopped walking. Her mind filled with the news. Her join the Varia? That elite assassination squad that only took missions that assured 90% success rates? Joining would mean she would no longer feel like a burden. She would have the freedom to do what she wanted, to fight strong opponents. But could she? Had this offer come before the engagement arrangement, she would have dropped everything and gone with Squalo. But could she do that now? When an alliance was at risk? She wasn't sure.

She turned to face the swordsman slowly, and took a deep breath, "Squalo. I appreciate the offer, but I'm not sure I can accept."

He growled, "What, you're gonna go back there and marry that fat-ass? You have potential. I saw that even as a kid back in school. It's why I stayed with you and that Cavallone brat all that time. No way in hell am I going to let you rot, married to some guy who can't even appreciate you."

She laughed bitterly, "Squalo. I would join in a heartbeat if I could. But I have to make sure that me dropping this engagement won't cause a war between the families. You have to wait for me, okay? I promise I'll take care of this and then come join you when I can."

"3 months" Xanxus spoke for the first time.

They looked at him and he continued, "We'll stay here for 3 months. Take care of your business by then or we'll leave you."

Arya looked at him with newfound respect in her eyes. Without asking for the details, this man would wait for someone he had just met. For the first time since Squalo had met Arya, the girl's face lit up with a dazzling smile that he had never before seen. Sure, she had smirked and smiled before, but he had never seen such delight on her face. The girl turned back to Squalo and said, "I won't ask you any details for now, so wait for me, kay? Oh and by the way, your new hair suits you" she winked and tugged on the shoulder length silver hair.

As she ran off, she called behind her, "You better wait sharky!"

Bemused, the silver haired swordsman sighed, "That one hasn't changed a bit. Voii, Xanxus. You approve of her entering the Varia? I thought you thought women were trash?"

The larger man snorted, "I think you're trash too. The girl has potential like you said."

Without another word, the two of them left, prepared to wait for 3 months and 3 months only. "Hurry up with it Arya" Squalo thought to himself.

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><p>Arya arrived back at the main Cavallone mansion, with no plan. She could think of nothing to placate Giegue family.<p>

But first…to deal with her adoptive mother who would no doubt be mortified that she had left in the middle of the meeting. Sure enough, as soon as she stepped in, her mother ran over, phone in hand, "Arya! Darling! Tell me you didn't just leave that poor man there alone! Oh how terrible!"

Arya raised her hands to placate her, "Mother, I apologize. Something came up and I had to leave abruptly. I assure you this won't happen again."

"It had better not! Oh what will your father think of this? What will you do if the Giegue family becomes displeased with us?"

"Actually, mother. I have something to discuss with father. Is he free at the moment?"

The woman nodded wearily, "He'll be in his study dear. Try not to upset him, alright?"

Arya nodded and then made her way up the stairs. Knocking on the door to the Cavallone boss's study, she called, "Father? Its Arya. May I come in?"

She opened the door to find the man sitting at his desk with a large pile of paperwork. She walked in and asked hesitantly, "Father? Could I speak to you?"

The man jerked up and grunted, rubbing his eyes, "Oh…Arya! I didn't hear you. Come in come in, sit down! How can I help you?"

Arya sighed, "Father, did you fall asleep doing the paperwork again?"

She walked over and started helping the man tidy up his desk. She picked up the mug and glanced at it with disapproval. "I'll go make some more coffee for you."

He watched her fuss over him and sighed, "Arya, this old man is sorry that he couldn't do more for you. Truly sorry."

She shook her head softly and replied, "No, you've already done more than enough Father. I couldn't be more thankful that I was taken in and raised as if I was your own daughter."

"But I've seen you on the battlefield. When you're fighting, you glow. Its like watching a dance. To have you married off is a waste."

Arya perked up at this, "Father. Actually, I've received an offer from the Varia. They want me to join."

She carefully watched his reactions. He was a mafia boss and therefore most emotions were hidden, but she had learned to read his movements and interpret them. His eyes widened almost imperceptibly, showing how shocked he was. He rubbed his hands together signaling how pleased he was. And then his brow furrowed and he was still again. "I won't stop you from joining Arya. But I hope you're aware of the implications of the job. You will have to kill on an almost daily basis. You will be most likely one of few females in that organization."

Arya shook her head, "I know all this already Father. I'm asking if it's all right to join despite the engagement."

He frowned, "Well, that certainly will be a problem. However, if you truly want to join, I will handle the consequences."

Relief made her wobble a bit, and she said, "I'll be here to help Father. I won't leave until everything is taken care of."

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><p>Author's Note:<p>

So...I said I wouldn't post anything until I got a review, but I realized that the first chapter doesn't explain much, so I'm gonna post a bit more.

Read and Review~


	3. Chapter 3: New Family

The deadline was fast approaching and Arya had yet to show up. He had heard that the engagement between her and the son of the boss of the Giegue family had broken, but other than that, there had been no news. He had kept himself busy, looking for potential Varia members. He was planning on scouting an eight year old boy who had apparently killed his family in some unknown country. The young prince seemed to be perfect for the strong Varia he envisioned.

The phone rang. Twitching, he grabbed it, "VOOIIII What do you want?"

The receptionist replied in a panic, "Sir, you have a guest here by the name of Arya-"

"VOOOIIIIII SEND HER UP NOW!" he roared.

Finally, it was time to move on. The door opened and Arya walked in. "Vooiiii! What took you so long woman?"

She grimaced, "After I broke off the engagement, there were some things I needed to take care of. Actually, I would've been here earlier, except Dino somehow managed to trip down 4 flights of stairs, only to use me as a landing cushion. I was in the hospital for a few days. Stupid twisted ankle."

She shook her head and then eyes sharpened, "Anyways, you have some explaining to do as well. Let's start with the most obvious question, shall we? What the fuck happened to your hand?"

He rolled his eyes, "I chopped it off during my battle with Tyr so I could understand his technique. Got a prosthetic hand to replace it."

She stared at him, "…You cut off your own hand? You mean this was on purpose? Not because the Emperor chopped it off?"

He glared at her, "VOOIIII! Who do you think I am? More importantly, we're going to pick someone else up."

"Who exactly is that?"

A short pause, "A messed up kid with an unhealthy obsession with knives."

When they found Belphegor, the Prince was covered with blood, an insane grin on his face. With absolutely no mercy, he charged at the closest target, Arya. Although his technique was a bit unprofessional, the boy was extremely fast on his feet. Nevertheless, he was still just an 8 year old. Wielding her staff, she batted away the knives thrown at her and got close enough to pin the boy down. He snarled and stabbed her in the hand with a knife he had had hidden up his sleeve. She bit back a scream when he twisted the knife viciously. Cursing, Squalo leaped forward and punched the boy in the head. Immediately, he collapsed, already worn out from lack of sleep and food.

"Must not scream, can't scream. It doesn't hurt that badly. No screaming" she repeated to herself desperately.

Arya whimpered as she carefully pulled the knife out of her hand. She ripped a piece of her shirt off and wrapped the bloody appendage firmly. She looked at the young boy in her arms with awe.

They took him back with them to the Varia mansion in Italy. They had just walked through the doors, allowing Arya a look at the grandeur that was to be her home, when the little boy woke up. He thrashed around in Squalo's grasp, causing the swordsman to threaten to knock him out again. Arya smacked him in the head and gently took the boy in her arms, ignoring the inner voice that was telling her to bolt, and calmed him down. You couldn't treat violence with more violence. When he had settled, she asked him, "Hello young sir. My name is Arya. What should I refer to you as?"

"Belphegor is a Prince, so you should call him that. Ushishishishi."

Although the laugh sent chills up her spine, Arya nodded pleasantly, "Well then Prince. Would you allow one of the servants here to show you to the bath? Royalty shouldn't be filthy after all."

"Ushishishishi. The Prince refuses to associate with those peasants. However, he will allow the Principessa to accompany him."

Wondering who the lucky Princess was, she was surprised when the little boy grabbed her hand and began pulling her further into the mansion. "Ah, Prince. One moment please. I need to ask the shark over there where the bathrooms are."

Belphegor stopped and nodded, asking, "Are you new here too Principessa?"

She smiled at him, "I am. It's a pleasure to meet you Prince."

Squalo snorted at the interaction that took place between the two newest members of the Varia. Trust that woman to immediately tame the bloodthirsty boy.

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><p>Arya took her time washing the dried blood out of the Prince's matted hair. She poured an ample amount of shampoo into her hand, trying to ignore the stinging and gently massaged his scalp. The repetitive motion of her hands soothed the boy, and he relaxed against her with a sigh. "Hey, Principessa. Did I do that to your hand?"<p>

Arya glanced at the wound, "You don't have to worry about it Prince. It'll be fine as long as it doesn't get infected."

The little boy frowned, "The Principessa should rest after finishing the Prince's bath."

Seeing the concern in his face, Arya broke into a genuine smile that seemed to light up the room. If he could show emotion like that, he would be fine and there was no need to be scared of him. She continued to wash Bel's hair silently. Bel stared at the reflected smile in the mirror and silently told himself that this would be the first of many times that he would see it.

As soon as they were done with the bath, he insisted that Arya go sleep. She however had other plans. "I'll go to sleep after dinner!" she insisted.

Skipping down the stairs, she made her way to the kitchen where the servants were preparing dinner and started helping out, as if it were completely natural. Making small suggestions here and there, she made herself useful chopping up the vegetables, showing off her own skill with knives. Bel watched in awe.

With her help, they finished earlier than usual, and were able to set up the tables and food before anyone arrived. Thanking her for her help, they filed out, while Arya plopped down in a chair to wait. Bel had stuck close to her the entire time, and seeing that she was sitting, he made himself comfortable in the seat next to her.

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><p>When the other members of the Varia made their way down to the dining room, they were surprised to see the little prince asleep in his chair. Arya put a finger to her lips, and gently picked up the boy. Cradling him in her arms, she left the dining room and carried him to his room. She tucked him into his bed and softly pressed her lips to his forehead. After she had gotten over the initial shock, something about the boy made her feel like a protective mother. "Night sweet Prince."<p>

She slipped out of the room and went back to the dining room where she introduced herself properly to the various officers. In total there were four, excluding Xanxus. Lussuria had most of his head shaved except a patch that was stylishly dyed bright neon green. He wore the standard Varia trench coat open with a collared white shirt and black tie. His coat had a large orange boa attached to it. He had a pair of dark sunglasses on and in Arya's opinion was rather fabulous. He greeted her with a brilliant smile and a warm hug. She hugged him back rather happily.

Leviathan was a large man with a lip piercing and tattoos on his face. His hair stood straight up and his face seemed permanently set in a scowl. He wore the Varia trench coat with no extra accessories, except absurdly, a pair of umbrellas that he carried around on his back. His greeting had been rather rude, but she overlooked it in favor of smiling at him and shaking his hand, which he returned reluctantly.

Mammon was the last person she didn't know in the room. He was a little baby, wearing a hood that covered half his face. What could be seen of his face were two upside down triangles that were under where Arya assumed his eyes would be. A black frog was sitting on his head. His first words to her were, "Don't expect any members of the Varia to help you. If you want anything, you'll have to pay me."

Arya laughed, liking his bold character and replied, "I don't really have anything I need so feel free to help yourself to my bank account."

He seemed pleased with her words because he clambered onto her shoulder and situated himself there. She smiled and stroked the little frog in greeting.

After making her greetings, she settled down and helped herself to the food. A certain silver haired swordsman twitched at this, "VOOIIIII! You greeted all of the baby officers but you ignored me?"

Arya raised an eyebrow and swallowed a mouthful of food, "Please quiet down shark boy. You'll give me indigestion."

Xanxus snorted from his seat and then aimed a question at the girl, "Oi scum. Did you cook this steak? Why does it taste different?"

With a respectful bow in his direction, Arya replied, "Ah, I suggested the cooks put in less salt so that the meat would be more tender when they cooked it. I suppose the taste must have changed too. I'll tell them to return to the old recipe if you don't like it."

The man chewed thoughtfully and then hn'ed and went back to eating. Squalo was still glowering in a corner, but he continued eating without a word. Arya finished her plate quickly and then excused herself, placing Mammon back in his seat and left for her room. Once she got there, she locked the door and quickly ran to the bathroom.

Hissing, she unwrapped the bandages from her hand and ran it under some lukewarm water. She danced over to the cabinet and took out the medicine box, and proceeded to douse her hand in antiseptic. Wiping the excess off with a cotton swab, she rubbed on some anti-itching cream and freshly wrapped the hand in new bandages. Sighing with relief, she put everything away and left the bathroom to collapse on her bed.

"Varia, huh? I hope I get along with my new family" she thought sleepily before drifting to sleep.

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><p>Arya settled into the Varia mansion comfortably, in fact, it felt more like home than her residence at the Cavallone mansion had. She loved her adoptive parents dearly, but the manners and rules she was forced to obey were overbearing. With the Varia, she could be herself.<p>

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><p>"Arya darling!" a high-pitched voice sang merrily.<p>

The girl rolled over and curled deeper into the sheets, moaning.

"Come now Arya! We have a formal party to attend tomorrow. We have to get you a dress!"

Arya threw her pillow at the door and groaned, "Why does it have to be at" she glanced at her alarm clock and groaned again, "7 in the morning?"

She heard the voice say, "Oh Squ-chan! How convenient! Arya won't come out of her room. Could you possibly fetch her for me?"

The swordsman's low rumble of a voice woke her up. Her eyes snapped open and she yelled, "Don't even think about it shark boy!"

Stumbling out of bed, she hurried to the bathroom and called over her shoulder, "Give me ten minutes!"

So it was at 7:30 in the morning that Arya found herself standing in front of the most expensive brand name shop in Italy. Lussuria was positively beaming with excitement as he pictured her in the most lavish clothing, while a reluctant Squalo was standing awkwardly to the side, having been dragged along.

They were welcomed graciously into the store and Arya was dragged behind a curtain to get her measurements. After the shopkeeper called them out, Lussuria immediately started picking out dresses. He threw a pile at Arya who almost disappeared under all the fabric. She stumbled into a dressing room the size of a normal room and held up the item of clothing on top and immediately blanched. "Um…Lussuria," she called hesitantly, "Could you possibly pick things that uhh covered more?"

Mad giggling came from the man and he replied innocently, "Oh but honey! You would look so good in what I've chosen out for you."

She made a strangled noise in the back of her throat and started trying on the outfits one by one. She placed the ones that were too short or revealing in one pile, and the ones that were too restricting in another. She then stared at the remaining two dresses. One was a knee-length white dress with a vine pattern embroidered at the bottom. It was held up by two thin white straps. The other was a silver dress that had a purple tint to it. It was floor-length but there was a slit that went down the side allowing for easy movement. It was backless except for the crisscross straps that held the dress up.

She went out of the dressing room area in the white dress and stood shyly in front of the three people in the store. The shop assistant lavished her with praise, admiring her figure. Lussuria squealed about how angelic she looked and how he just _knew_ she would like that dress. Uncertainly, she turned to Squalo. The swordsman was blushing but covered it by growling, "How the hell are you supposed to move in that thing if something happens? Or do you plan on letting the entire mafia see your lingerie?"

The girl frowned and retorted, "For your information, I'm planning on wearing shorts anyways."

Her voice faltered and she asked, "You really don't like it?"

He sighed, grabbed her hand, and dragged her back into the dressing room. He dropped her hand and muttered, "Look, you look fine in anything, so just hurry up and pick something else."

Before she could respond, he shoved her back into her dressing room. She rolled her eyes, and thought to herself, "Why the hell does that idiot have to be so rough about everything? Would it kill him to just honestly tell me what he thinks?"

She changed into the other dress and stepped out again. Before she could say anything, Lussuria grabbed her hand, twirled her around, and proclaimed, "This is the one you're getting. Go get changed, and we can go look for shoes."

Confused, she did as she was told and was promptly dragged out of the shop, leaving Squalo to pay for the expensive dress. As she stumbled along after Lussuria, she tentatively asked, "Um, Lussuria? Is there a reason I needed to get that dress in particular?"

He smiled sunnily at her and thought to himself, "Because darling. When you came out, Squalo just couldn't take his eyes off you, could he?"

Out loud, he said, "Oh don't worry about it hon."

She shrugged and they entered a shoe store. In the years it had been since her graduation, her aversion to high heels had not changed, and Lussuria was forced to limit his choices to heels that were less than 2 inches high. This was not without complaint however, as he periodically was heard saying things like "Oh what I wouldn't _kill_ to see you in these, love."

After a long day, Arya collapsed back in her room. After acquiring a proper dress and shoes for the formal affair the next day, Lussuria had forced her to shop with him because as he stated, "Darling, I've seen your closet. Most of that stuff is outdated, and I simply can't be sisters with an unfashionable person. Besides, today we've got a grunt to carry our bags, so we should take this opportunity to shop till we drop!"

She laughed to herself, "Luss-nee-chan is crazy, but I guess that comes with being a part of the Varia."

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><p>The Varia's arrival at the mafia party was a blur to Arya who was still trying to adjust to the <em>three-inch<em> heels that Lussuria had somehow persuaded her to buy. All she remembered was an exuberant boa-wearing man pushing her into a grand room and whispering to her, "Have fun darling! And don't forget to strut your stuff!"

How one strutted their stuff was questionable, Arya thought. She had dove for the refreshment table, obtained a cup of some suspicious substance that smelled like alcohol spiked punch, and then retired to a corner of the room, where she was quite content to watch the rest of the night pass by.

Unfortunately, life did not agree with the girl. Two minutes into the night, a commotion signaled the arrival of Dino Cavallone, followed by his horde of fan girl mafia members. The man had located her immediately and made a beeline for her. Apologizing to his fangirls, he dragged a protesting Arya to the dance floor.

After the fangirls had been placated, the two siblings awkwardly rocked back and forth on the dance floor. Arya glared at her brother, "Dino, what have I said about your problems and dragging me into them?"

He smiled sheepishly, "Not to?"

"And so? What's your excuse this time?"

He pouted childishly, "I needed an excuse to dance with my cute little sister?"

She rolled her eyes and relaxed her gait so that the two could dance comfortably. Dino started chuckling, "Hey, hey, do you still remember the first time we had a dance lesson? And the teacher said I had two left feet? And you-"

Arya groaned, "Dino, how many times are you going to bring that up? I even wrote him an apology letter! It's not my fault the man couldn't keep his mouth shut!"

He laughed, "But really, tripping him in the middle of the lesson was a bit harsh. He broke a leg!"

Her mouth twitched at the memory. Dino continued, "And then you just stood there innocently. Mister? What does having two left feet mean?"

Arya started giggling and playfully shoved him, "I did not sound like that!"

He smiled broadly, accepting the push without missing a beat, "You finally smiled. Your face has been set in a frown the entire day I bet."

She stuck her tongue out at him, "I was not!"

At his unbelieving look, she admitted, "Okay, so maybe. But these heels are three inches high Dino! I can barely feel my feet anymore!"

He ignored her the complaint in favor of smiling knowingly. He had seen the looks she had been getting from the men in the room.

He changed the subject swiftly, a skill he had no doubt picked up after being tutored by Reborn, "Have you formally met Vongola Nono yet?"

"I was going to wait until later when I wouldn't attract as much attention."

He laughed, "Oh dear sister of mine. You're dancing with the Bucking Bronco! You've already attracted plenty of attention!"

She sulked and then her face lit up with devilish intent, "That reminds me! How's Reborn doing?"

Dino's face went blank, and he responded in a monotone, "He's doing well. I appreciate what he's done for me as a tutor. Thanks to him, I'm ready to inherit the position as boss."

She grinned, "Still a monster, huh?"

Immediately, he started whining, "Yeeess. You won't believe what he did the other day! I was just sitting there and he hit me with a mallet! Not just any mallet! It was a one ton mallet!"

Suddenly his face paled. Arya glanced behind her and winced. The tyrannical infant was glaring at the blonde. His expression promised a painful punishment for badmouthing him. She started talking again to distract him, "Hey, how about we go make that visit to Vongola Nono now?"

He glanced at her distractedly, "Huh? Oh yeah. Let's do that."

When the song ended, the two walked over to where the current Vongola boss was standing. His right hand man stood next to him protectively. She approached the esteemed man slowly, making sure not to make any suspicious movements. Dino, having already met him before, introduced them. "Ah Nono sir. This is my younger adopted sister, Arya Ishigeaki. She joined the Varia a few months ago."

The old man smiled at her, "Ah young Arya. I always wondered what you would end up doing. While the two of you are siblings, you are so different. Not to mention, that it wasn't just once that your father ended up coming to me worrying about you. Tell me dear; are you happy with the Varia?"

Arya was shocked. Father had been that concerned about her? She smiled radiantly and answered, "Yes sir. They've become my family in these few short months."

He nodded approvingly, "Keep that feeling in your heart and always treasure it."

"I will sir."

After a few more words, she and Dino excused themselves. Arya was slowly sipping on the punch when a young man timidly approached her, asking for a dance. She was about to reject him politely when Squalo strode over and grabbed her wrist angrily, "Vooiiii woman. You haven't danced with me yet."

Apologizing to the man, she followed the silver hair to the middle of the room. They danced in comfortable silence for a moment, before Squalo abruptly said, "Stop drinking that punch. And don't dance with other guys."

Her eyes widened, "What's this sharky? Are you concerned about me?"

He answered her irritably, "Shut up. I just don't want you giving the Varia a bad reputation."

She nodded in understanding, and they finished the dance awkwardly. Immediately drawing away from her, he stalked off.

The night moved on. Although she kept to the outskirts of the room, Arya was still approached by quite a few men. She politely refused all of them. She had engaged in conversation with Romario, Dino's assistant of sorts, when there was a shout. Immediately, the room went silent. A short man who had obviously had a few too many drunks stumbled to where Arya was.

"Well, if it ishn't the ex-Cavallone family member. I heard you joined the Varia? Ha, do they take turns with you in bed? How much are they paying you? It musth be a lot if you broke off our engagement!"

He fumbled with his wallet, pulled out a bunch of bills, and threw them in the girl's face. "Here! Take this! Sorry if iths not as much as what those asshassthins are paying you!"

From across the room, Squalo growled. Before he could interfere however, Xanxus tripped him. As boss, he wanted to see what the girl would do. Lussuria was openly glaring at the ill-bred man. Mammon watched quietly, his eyes following the money as it fluttered to the floor.

Arya breathed in deeply, calming herself before replying, "Please, they don't need money to get someone into their bed. It's more like they have to pay women to _not _jump into their beds. I'm sure you wouldn't understand that sort of problem though. In your case, it's not wealth that's the problem. Rather, it's everything else. That lisp in particular is quite unfortunate. I'm not sure if I know anyone who would willingly go to bed with a man who speaks like a toddler."

Biaggio glowered fiercely, "I do not sthpeak with a lithsp!"

But the girl was not finished. She bent down to pick up the money littering the floor, and stood up, "Also, no matter how well off you are, it is incredibly rude to throw money at another person. Keep your money in your wallet where it belongs before you offend someone."

At this statement, Mammon smirked. It was the only encouragement he needed. A second later, Biaggio was in only his underwear. A rather embarrassing pair of teddy bear boxers. Not noticing this apparent change, he tried to insult her again, "You're right after all. A girl like you couldn't ever hope to make it into the bedsth of the elite asshassthination squad."

Arya raised an eyebrow, "I find it hard to find this insulting when the man who's talking to me is wearing such childish underwear."

Biaggio looked down and paled. "You bitch! I'll get you back for thisth!" he yelled before running out as laughter broke out around them.

Nonchalantly, the girl turned back to the man she had been talking to. "I'm sorry for that interruption. You were saying?"

Xanxus smirked to himself. This girl wouldn't be a liability if she could handle herself so well. Unlike a certain stupid trash, he thought, turning to gaze at his vice commander.

Said vice commander was about to leave the room to pound the trash to bits. Seeing the murderous look in his eyes, Arya excused herself hastily and followed him. She caught him just before he reached the doors. Grabbing his sleeve, she demanded, "Where do you think you're going?"

He growled, "Going to take a stroll. It's too suffocating in there."

"Oh no you don't. Don't think you can fool me Squalo. Just leave that idiot alone."

"Who the hell said I was going to kill him?"

She stared at him, "I never said anything about killing Squalo."

He froze "Shit."

She smiled, "Thanks anyways. Come on. Just forget him and let's go dance."

* * *

><p>"You brat! How dare you interrupt Xanxus-sama's sleep?" Levi yelled.<p>

"Ushishishishi the Principessa told me to make sure the boss woke up early today because he has a meeting with Vongola Nono." Bel responded.

"Then that girl also needs to die!"

Bel frowned and he took out a few of his knives, "If you threaten the Principessa, I'll slice you to pieces."

"I'd like to see you try!" Levi said, taking out his umbrellas.

A sleepy girl walked into the room. After taking stock of the situation, she began mediating, "Prince, it's all right. Levi, I apologize for not warning you. Let's not fight, okay?"

Bel immediately hid his knives and went to hide behind Arya. Levi glowered at the prince but put away his umbrellas and left the room. Although he acted rude, he had a certain respect for the girl. After all, even his beloved boss was a little charmed by her.

Arya sighed and turned to Bel, "Prince, sweetheart, you can't always be picking fights with everyone. These guys are our family now."

"The prince doesn't want to be associated with these peasants. I only need the Principessa."

Arya ruffled the now twelve year old boys' hair fondly, "Prince, I love you too, but isn't it lonely without friends?"

He shook his head stubbornly, "They all want to steal the Principessa away from the Prince so I won't be friends with any of them."

She almost giggled at how adorable his reasoning was, but persisted with the issue, "Prince, how about just one friend? That way you have someone when I'm off on missions. And I promise I'll always see you as my number one prince."

He thought for a moment and then said, "Well, the Prince does like Mammy. But first, I want proof that I'll always be your number one."

Arya's face lit up in the bright smile that Bel loved and replied, "I thought it was obvious when I got you those knives that you were one my number one prince. If you have them, you can protect yourself. As long as you're safe, I'm happy."

She took his hand and entwined his pinky with hers, murmuring, "Promise."

At that moment, Squalo burst into the room, "VOOIIIII! Get moving! We've got a mission!"

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

I'm so excited! Thank you to all the people who reviewed my story! And to those who simply read it!

So...originally this chapter was a lot shorter...and then things happened... So if nothing happens, the next chapter should be out sometime at night tomorrow. But the chapters after that are gonna be coming more slowly since I haven't even drafted them yet.

As always, read and review~

By the way, if anyone could help me with Bel's character, I'd really appreciate it. I'm not sure how much of his dialogue to make in the third person. I even reread his battle with Gokudera in the manga to get reference material (distracted me for like an hour since I just kept on reading), but I'm still not sure how to write him. And I feel like Xanxus is too nice. ...Or rather they're all too nice... but the Varia _is_ nice in my perspective (my incredibly biased perspective lol) so...yeah...

And I promise that the title of the story will make sense after the next chapter. Or rather it should and if you don't get it by then, then I might need to throw myself off a cliff...

Thanks again! 3


	4. Chapter 4: Overcoming Pain

Arya back-flipped to avoid the enemy's swipe with his weapon; she landed on her hands and kicked him in the neck. He dropped like a stone, and she continued forward into the mansion. After a few years of working with the Varia, her body was practically moving on autopilot now. A bullet shot past her, missing her by a hair. Eyes narrowing, she pinpointed the sniper and began scaling the wall, keeping out of his range. The sniper was taking aim again, and to her horror, she saw that Bel was completely unaware. Her mind froze, and screams erupted from her throat unbidden. She lunged at the sniper as he fired. The shot tore through her side, but in the midst of her panic, didn't feel the pain at all.

Below her, both Varia and enemy alike had frozen. They watched in shock as the sniper's head exploded despite Arya not having used any weapons. Her screams echoed through the open area. Only when they died down, did they notice that she had been shot. Taking action, Mammon created an illusion around the girl so that the enemy wouldn't be able to pinpoint her. Squalo cut down his opponents mercilessly and then ran to the girl. She was still shaking, but instinct told her to stop the bleeding, which she did so by ripping her shirt into pieces, making sure that the Varia coat was firmly buttoned. "VOOIIIII! What the hell were you thinking?"

She winced as she pressed her shirt against the wound, "I lost my mind for a moment. Go on. I'll catch up with the rest of you."

He growled, "If you die, I'll kill you."

Arya laughed bitterly as he ran off, and then slowly stood up, having stopped most of the bleeding, "Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose?"

The rest of the group had already moved on, but there were enemies coming in from the outside, having heard all the noise. She snapped the staff open and then flicked out a blade from one end. Using her newly assembled scythe, she stood to face the enemies that were rushing at her. Silently, she ran towards them.

After finishing the mission, the Varia rushed back to where the girl was. Covered in blood, she was using her scythe as support as she tried to fend off her attackers. An equal number of dead bodies littered the ground around her. They sprang into action and ran to finish off the remaining enemies.

Arya kicked her opponent in the gut as he tried to grab her. But due to blood-loss, the girl could barely stand much less cause any real damage. He smirked, lunged forward and grabbed her by the neck. She stopped using the staff as support and dropped to the ground, taking the man with her. Pulling out the knife she had strapped to her thigh, she plunged it into the man's back. He gasped, blood dripping out of his mouth onto her face, "You bitch."

She shoved him off her weakly and lay there, completely spent. Around her, she could hear the sounds of her family fighting. She closed her eyes wearily, painfully aware of the bullet embedded in her side.

* * *

><p>Arya's eyes fluttered open slowly. She tried getting up only to moan in pain. Ah, that was right. She had been shot. And then she bit her lip when she realized that her secret was exposed. She carefully pushed herself into a sitting position and got ready to face the onslaught of questions.<p>

To her surprise, only Bel was there and he was sitting quietly by her bed, playing with his knives. She found herself holding her hand out for one before she realized what she was doing. He handed her one, and she examined it carefully. After seeing her practicing throwing knives at a target one day, he had approached her. She had taught him everything she knew. He had sucked up the information like a sponge and created his own style of using knives.

As a gift for her graduating pupil, she had given him a knife she had designed herself. It looked fragile, but it was ideal for being flung through the air at high speeds, which suited his attack style very well. He had had the knife duplicated and now had probably hundreds hidden on his person, although she had no idea where most of them were. She herself carried only a few weapons: her staff on the inside of her jacket in its compact form, a knife tucked into each boot, and another knife strapped to her thigh (hidden by the long Varia coat).

After seeing that the knife was in good condition, she handed it back to Bel, who took it and hid it away. He grabbed her hand and said, "Hey, Principessa, do you remember our promise?"

She nodded, curious as to where this was going. "That day Principessa, I swore to you that I would protect myself no matter what, didn't I? So why did you act so recklessly? You could have died, and the Prince refuses to allow that."

Arya gently drew circles on Bel's hands as she bought time for her answer, "I'm not sure why Prince. I just lost control. But you know, if I could do it all over again, I'd still do it this way."

She cupped his cheek and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "This Princess doesn't want her Prince to get hurt."

The door slammed open, ruining the moment and Arya pulled back, while looking guiltily at the angry shark that had barged in. "Hey, what's up?" she asked sheepishly.

Squalo growled, "VOOIIIII! You almost died and that's all you can say? What were you thinking, you stupid woman? You know how much shit I had to go through because of you? That stupid shitty boss threw an entire set of silverware at my fucking head!"

Arya hung her head in shame, "Okay, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'm lucky I wasn't killed. Can't we just leave it at that?"

He sighed, "If it were just the matter of you losing it, it would be fine. Everyone in the Varia is fucking crazy. But you know what I'm here to talk about. Your power. We saw you cause that guy's head to explode. From screaming."

She bit her lip and replied, "I wasn't trying to hide it from you. To be honest, I'm not really sure what it is. When I was little, I used to sing on my balcony. But whenever people heard me singing, they would get hurt…so my father forbade me from singing. But then we found out that it wasn't just singing; rather when I got really emotional, my voice had some sort of destructive power. But I don't know how to control it. So I just tried to not scream or make loud noises. I tried practicing singing in secret to see if I could learn how to control it, but nothing happened."

Squalo frowned, "Well, we need to do some tests. Everyone's scared you'll scream them to death."

The girl blinked back the sadness in her eyes, and smiled like always, "Sure. Tell them not to worry. I'll stay in my room so I won't accidentally hurt them."

He told her to lay back down and then left the room. Bel followed reluctantly. Arya stared at the ceiling, trying to force the suffocating feeling in her chest to go away. The same thing had happened when people had been hurt in the Cavallone family. Although they had tried to act like nothing had happened, Arya had been able to sense their apprehension. It was only Dino who had been unaffected. Dino who's bright laughter had allowed her to suppress the suffocating feeling that she was dangerous. Dangerous and therefore unwanted.

Because she was still recovering from the bullet wound, Arya was confined to her room. And day by day, Squalo watched her lose a little more of the brightness in her smile. The beautiful smile that had charmed him was slowly disappearing. _And __he __had __no __idea __how __to __get __it __back_. The idea that he was so helpless enraged but at the same time terrified him.

He had long ago accepted the fact that he had fallen in love with the girl. Her sarcastic comments, the way she threw her head back when she laughed really hard, the fluidity of her movements when fighting, that tiny patch of red that appeared on her cheeks when she was pretending to not be affected by something embarrassing someone had said. He loved everything about her. But if there was one thing that he couldn't lose, it was her smile. The smile that managed to light up the world even when the world around him was a sea of red.

He leaned against the wall next to the door to her room, trying to force his hand to grasp the doorknob, to open the door that would lead to that bright world. But it was as if his brain had shut down. He couldn't move. And as he sat there trying to take the next step, the door suddenly opened and Arya was standing there, looking at him, sympathy clear in her eyes.

"Squalo. You don't have to force yourself to come here so often. I'm used to being alone."

"No!" he wanted to scream "That's not it! That's not it! No!"

But even as he tried to force the words to come out, his brain once again betrayed him. "Vooiii. It's not like I want to."

She nodded sadly and murmured to herself, "Yeah, I can understand that."

"No" he croaked out, causing her to pause in confusion.

"No" he repeated firmly the second time, "That's not what I meant. I-"he paused. What could he say? He didn't want to lose her smile? There was no way she would believe him. Superbi Squalo wasn't an emotional sap.

She took his silence as a reaffirmation of what she had originally thought. "Squalo. Being locked up here day after day is really boring. I might scream at any time. So please. Don't force yourself to come here."

She retreated back into her room and closed the door. The lock clicked into a place audibly. Squalo leaned against the closed door and cursed himself. _Stupid.__So__fucking__stupid._

On the other side of the door, tears pooled into Arya's eyes. Pushing Squalo away was like she was giving up on any hope she had left. Arya slowly slid down and sitting there, she let all her grief out. The floodgates opened, letting the downpour of tears pour out.

And then for the first time since her father had put a ban on it, she started singing. Softly. So softly that Squalo almost didn't hear it from the other side of the door. But he did. And he swore that it was the sound an angel crying.

But as he continued listening, he recognized Arya's voice. And with the recognition, came the realization that he wasn't hurt. And suddenly he was pounding on her door. The singing stopped abruptly. A brief "Go away!" was shouted softly, but he ignored it and continued beating on the door.

The door was yanked open abruptly and he stumbled into her. But to their amazement, he couldn't touch her. There was an invisible barrier separating the two of them. Squalo bashed at the seemingly empty space, but there was no change. The pain in his hand brought back his voice and he roared, "VOOOIIIIIII! YOU STUPID BITCH! SUPERBI SQUALO ISN'T SCARED OF ANYTHING! DON'T FUCKING GET AHEAD OF YOURSELF!"

Arya lifted her hand from her side and reached for Squalo's hand. She grasped it tightly and the barrier was gone. And she was crying in his arms for real this time. "Vooiiii. I'll never be scared of you. Remember that."

She was crying and laughing at the same time, "Squalo! Squalo!" she repeated, relishing the feeling as the name left her lips.

He held her until she went limp in his arms. Looking down, he realized she had cried herself to sleep. Noticing the dark bags under her eyes, he carefully carried her back to her bed and tucked her in. "You'd make a fucking terrible rival if you were always like this. I'll let it go this time. But don't ever fucking do this again. Beat it and become even stronger. Only then will you be a worthy rival."

* * *

><p>The door opened and a sheepish Lussuria was shoved into the room. Arya wilted and hid in her sheets. He rushed to her bedside and started frantically apologizing, "Oh honey! I'm so sorry! I had no idea you were feeling so depressed! I wasn't trying to avoid you; I just thought it was a good time for you and Squ-chan to do some bonding!"<p>

Arya didn't respond. "Darling! You believe me don't you? Tell me you'll forgive me?"

She put her hands over her ears, "Please, Luss-nee-chan. Why are you yelling? My head hurts." Then she frowned, "What do you mean you wanted me and Squalo to bond? We're rivals! Rivals don't bond! They fight!"

The flamboyant man's pleas turned to laughter, "Oh darling! You two would be like such a cute couple!"

Arya blushed, "What the hell Luss-nee-chan? Don't even suggest something like that! For one thing, I don't wanna date a guy who has longer hair than me!"

The girl burrowed under her covers. Taking this as a cue for his exit, Lussuria laughed again, "Arya, let's shop again together sometime when you're better, okay? Oh and I'll tell Mammon and Bel-chan that they can visit you again."

Her head shot out from under her covers, "What does that mean? What happened to them?"

He giggled nervously, "Oh nothing, darling. I just had them restrained so that they wouldn't bother you and Squ-chan."

There was silence and then, "Luss-nee-chan!"

The man laughed. After he had exited, Arya sighed with relief. Was Squalo getting to the fighter? Why was his voice so loud all of a sudden? The door burst open and Bel rushed in. "Principessa! The Prince didn't forget about you! It was that stupid pervert who kept me away all this time!"

He threw himself on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. Arya hugged him back, "I know Prince. Luss-nee-chan told me already. But please, sweetheart, keep your voice down. My head feels like its about to explode."

In fact, her head felt like it was throbbing. Wave after wave of pain bashed it. Bel cocked his head to the side quizzically, "Principessa, the Prince isn't speaking any louder than usual. Is something wrong with your hearing?"

Although she was confused, she reassured him, "Ah no. It must just be headache then. I'm sure I'll be back to normal when it goes away."

Bel nodded and then curled up on Arya's bed contentedly. At that moment, Mammon walked in. He took a look at the situation and said in a bored voice, "I just wanted to see how my money bank was doing. Bye."

Arya smiled, "Thanks Mammon. I'm doing fine."

"Hn."

* * *

><p>Squalo twitched irritably. The girl across from him calmly ate another bite of food. He couldn't take it anymore, "VOOIIIII YOU CRAZY WOMAN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING?"<p>

Arya dropped her utensils and clutched her ears. "Ugh, Squalo. Please! You're too loud!"

She adjusted the fluffy earmuffs she was wearing and put her head down in her lap. The problem of her overly sensitive hearing hadn't gone away, and even though she was wearing earmuffs, they didn't seem to be helping. Or rather, it was more like even though the noises were dulled, she could still feel the pressure emitted from their voices. And her head was still hurting.

She clutched her head and hummed desperately to herself, trying to block out everything around her. To her surprise, the pressure seemed to lessen. She opened her eyes and glanced around. And then shut them tightly again. She had to be hallucinating. The air around her was distorted.

Bel hesitantly reached a hand out to tug on the girl's sleeve. To his shock, he couldn't touch her. He tapped at the barrier that seemed to be surrounding her and asked, "Principessa? What are you doing?"

There was no reply. Growling, Squalo stood up and stalked over. "Just break the damn thing!"

He raised a fist and brought it crashing down on the area around Arya. They all heard an audible crack and suddenly Arya was hunched over in pain again.

As the barrier broke, the sounds and pressure flooded Arya's senses again. But she had learned something valuable. It wasn't her voice that held her power. It was the sound waves surrounding her. _She __could __control __them_.

* * *

><p>Arya breathed in and out deeply and started singing again. As she did, she focused on the vibrations in her throat. She opened her eyes and once again saw the distortions in the air, pouring out from her. She thought about protecting herself, of being untouchable. The distortions slowly molded themselves into a bubble around her. She kept singing and then pressed a button. The machine guns she had set up in a circle around her started firing rapidly. Nervously she watched the first round of bullets come shooting at her, but stood her ground. They made contact with her barrier and with a crack, it shattered. However, the barrier had protected her enough so that she was only blown back a few feet and uninjured.<p>

So it worked, she thought grimly. She would have to practice to make the barrier stronger, but at the very least she would be able to defend herself against bullets. Grinning ferociously, she went to hunt down the shark.

Squalo was writing his report on a recent mission when Arya barged into his room and yelled, "UP AND AT' EM SHARKY! WE'RE FIGHTING TODAY!"

"Vooiiii! I'm writing a report right now! Bother someone else!"

He was met with a blade to the neck. Shouting profanities, he leaped back, forgetting about the paperwork. They were still yelling at each other when they arrived at the training area behind the mansion.

They stood at opposite ends of a field, staring at each other. Squalo was grinning in anticipation. It had been too long since he had fought her. Arya said calmly, "I told you before that if you ever called me a bitch again, I would shove my staff up your ass. I still haven't honored that promise."

She felt the excitement building in her. She hadn't fought ever since she had gotten wounded. And Squalo was a challenging opponent. With a roar, he leapt forward, running at her at top speed. As the two met, their weapons clashed. They pushed at each other, testing one another's strength for a moment before jumping back. Squalo's sword was a blur; his cuts precise, not using a single unnecessary movement. Arya blocked him with her staff, remembering the first time they had met, and smiled with pride. She had improved since then. Her blocks were more firm, and it was less difficult keeping up with him.

Nevertheless, there was a reason this man had defeated Emperor Tyr. He slashed at her stomach and she disconnected part of the staff and wrapped the chain around his sword, holding it firmly. Keeping a hold of it, she kicked him in the stomach. He grunted and then shot gunpowder at her. She hastily jumped back, barely able to avoid the explosions. Unfortunately in the process, she let go of her staff.

The swordsman tossed the staff behind him, having no intention to let the girl get it back. Arya pulled out the dagger at her thigh and ran to engage again. She couldn't do much with the dagger however. He had her backed up against a tree, and she decided it was time to use her secret weapon. Focusing, she saw the distortions in the air, made from the sound of metal on metal. She began forming into a barrier. Seeing her distracted, Squalo stabbed forward. The metal stopped in midair, and Arya grinned in triumph. Catching him off guard, she grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder, straight into the tree. She pulled out the knives hidden in her boots and threw them. They pinned the swordsman to the tree firmly.

Immediately, she ran to retrieve her staff. She had barely grabbed it when gunpowder shot at her again. She brought up the barrier, but was nevertheless knocked back. The crack from the barrier shattering resounded across the field and Squalo bore down on the girl. He brought his weapon crashing down against her staff.

Too late she recognized the attack. Attaco di Squalo. The shockwave that reverbrated through her body paralyzed her. The swordman rested his sword next to her neck and grinned, "Surrender?"

She struggled silently, trying to move her body. "Fuck" she glared at him, and reluctantly accepted defeat.

And that was how, an hour later, she found herself sullenly serving dinner to all of the Varia officers sitting at the dining table. Wearing a maid outfit. The outfit in question was your typical maid outfit, complete with the hat and a pair of dangerous looking heels, and Arya was ready to throw herself off a cliff from the embarrassment.

A high pitched squeal echoed throughout the entire mansion. "Oh my god honey! That outfit is so cute on you! Please tell me you're going to keep wearing it forever! I didn't know you were so daring!"

She glared at the ecstatic Lussuria, "Please. Just, take the damn food."

He giggled, "All right! But I'm getting pictures later!"

"I'm taking copies to sell, Lussuria" Mammon piped up.

Bel was grinning, "Ushishishishi. I didn't know the Principessa had such a scandalous hobby."

She groaned and turned to Squalo furiously, "This is all _your_ fault so get your lazy ass up and do something!"

He smirked, "Now is that any way for a maid to talk to her master?"

She was left speechless. Xanxus growled, "Oi trash. Take off the stockings."

Her jaw dropped and she spluttered, "Excuse me?"

Levi growled angrily despite the obvious blush on his face, "Don't question the boss!" Ever since the incident during the mission, Levi treated the girl with disdain, thinking she couldn't keep her head in a dangerous situation.

"You heard me trash. Take the stockings off."

She frantically looked at Squalo for help but the man seemed to be enjoying what was happening. She slowly stepped out of the painful heels and pulled the stockings off. Putting the shoes back on, she stood there awkwardly and then jumped when Xanxus spoke again, "You're going to Japan for a mission from Nono. That trash wants you to keep an eye on the Vongola Decimo brat. The shark bait will give you the details later."

She waited for him to say something else, but he was silent. "So…why did you make me take off the stockings?"

Xanxus's eyes traveled down her legs and then back up to meet her eyes. He smirked.

Fuming, Arya took a shoe off and whirling around, she smacked it into Squalo's head. The long haired man yelled in pain. She took off the other shoe and threw it at him before stomping out of the room.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

I finally finished it! Ugh, this chapter makes me so nervous. I feel like Arya is on the verge of turning into a Mary-Sue and I'm so worried! If anyone could help me with that or give me feedback about it, I'd greatly appreciate it!

This chapter was originally a lot shorter, but I kept writing randomly...I think there was originally a point to the last part with the maid outfit...but I've forgotten...which is problematic :(

Anyways, the Mukuro arc is coming up soon. Actually, it should be chapter 6, since chapter 5 will be Arya meeting the tenth generation Vongola members! Ahajdlfkjags I can't wait to write the future arc; I have so many ideas for it :D

I'll update as soon as possible, but I can't promise anything tomorrow. :( As always read & review~


	5. Chapter 5: Middle School Again

The mission from Vongola Nono himself was simple. Go to Japan and keep an eye on the Vongola Decimo candidate. Arya was fine with the mission until she was told that she would have to masquerade as a middle-schooler. Squalo cringed as the girl started yelling at him, even going so far as to aim a few punches at his head. Seeing that she wasn't going to go peacefully, Squalo lunged at her, successfully catching her off guard, and with a smack to the pressure point in her neck, knocked her out.

* * *

><p>Arya dragged her suitcase wearily up the steps of her new apartment, trying to prevent her skirt from billowing up every two seconds. As soon as she had let herself into the fully furnished apartment (courtesy of one Superbi Squalo), she immediately stripped off the offending garment and changed into some normal jeans. Not bothering to unpack the suitcase, she collapsed on her bed. Her eyes were about to droop shut when her cell phone went off. Cursing, she picked up. "VOOOIIIIII BRAT DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE SLACKING ON YOUR MISSION ALREADY!"<p>

Her already thin patience snapped and she yelled through the phone, "Shut up! You're not the one who has to pretend to go through puberty all over again, all right asshole?"

"Ushishishishi looks like the Principessa is moody" she heard a familiar voice through the phone.

She sighed, "Prince, please sweetheart, let me yell at Squalo for a moment."

Before she could hear his reply, Squalo roared, "VOOIII! I don't get why you still call that brat Prince."

"Ushishishishi that's cause I'm a Prince" Bel replied.

Arya breathed in and out slowly, "Squalo, I'm gonna go take a look around town, possibly get something to eat. You and Bel have fun. I'll talk to you later, kay?"

Her only reply was a loud shout and the sound of something breaking. She hung up, shaking her head, and then headed out. She pulled out a map and started walking in the direction of the school she would attend. That reminded her! She needed to pick up the uniform. And then she cursed. Shit. The uniform. Thanks to a powerful illusion Mammon had cast on a necklace, she looked like a 14 year old. Although she was against the idea of wearing jewelry, she agreed that it was necessary in order for her to be able to pass off as a middle-schooler. The downside was that she was limited to the amount of power she had had at that age. Which meant she was almost pathetically weak compared to her 22 year old self.

Carrying the girl's uniform with her when she left the principal's office, she pouted. The principal told her that any dress code related issues had to be taken up with the head prefect. Why a prefect? Because it seemed he ruled the town with an iron fist, terrorizing all those opposed to him.

She hurried out the school to go in search of this authority figure. In her haste, she bumped into someone. "Ah! I'm so sorry!" she apologized. The young boy had fluffy brown hair that seemed to defy gravity. His large warm honey eyes stared at her and she couldn't help but feel extra apologetic. At that moment, someone came running up to them, "Juudaime! What happened? Are you okay? Is that bitch bothering you?"

Arya's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. That's right. This boy was the Vongola Decimo candidate that was supposed to be looking out for. The boy that had just arrived continued to babble on and on about protecting him. Gokudera Hayato, the Hurricane Bomber. She looked him over. He had silver octopus styled hair (it was pretty cool despite how lame that sounded) and green eyes that were currently glaring at her. He reminded her of a puppy lashing out to protect its master.

Suddenly, she felt a chilling presence and glanced to the side. A baby came flying out of nowhere and kicked the brown haired boy in the head. "HIIIIII! Reborn! What was that for?"

"For loitering, no good Tsuna" the baby replied.

Arya felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise at the baby's name. _Reborn_. Possibly the most deadly assassin in the world. Her brother's old tutor. Unsure of how Reborn would take her arrival in Japan, she decided to not draw attention for now and after apologizing again, excused herself and left. She could feel the baby's eyes on her and inwardly shivered.

She kept walking, lost deep in thought, when suddenly she became aware of a large group of people blocking her way. Murmuring an excuse me, she moved around them, but they blocked her path firmly. Finally, she raised her head. A group of six boys leered at her. She sighed. As if she didn't have enough to deal with.

In typical gangster fashion, they asked her to come with them; and then when she refused, as any sane girl would do, they started trying to intimidate her. She stared at them, bored, and wondering what she would eat later. It was only when one of the boys grabbed her arm hard enough to bruise, and the others started encouraging him that she snapped.

Murderous eyes glared at the boy who had dared make a spectacle of her, and she hissed, "I was going to let you off easy since I'm hungry. But you've just reminded me that I was in a _very_ bad mood today."

The boy continued to bluff, unable to sense the killing intent emanating from the girl, and without a word, she lunged forward, punching him in the gut. He was stunned for a moment, but the blow didn't have the effect that she had been aiming for. Too late she remembered the physical limits her 14 year old self had.

She gritted her teeth. It was either fight or flight in this situation and Arya made it a policy to never start a fight she couldn't finish. So despite the possible beating she would get, she immediately kicked the boy in the balls, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. The other boys however, continued to advance on her. She dodged punches agilely, thinking that they were nowhere near the level Squalo had been at that age.

Despite this, their numbers were an obvious advantage. Letting the fight drag out longer was a bad idea. She ducked and two boys punched each other in the faces. She whipped out her staff and whacked another boy attempting to creep up on her sideways in the face. The remaining two were warier of her, and approached cautiously. The first threw a punch at her face which she ducked easily and kneed him in the gut. She shoved him to the side and then waited for the next boy's attack. He threw a punch and she dodged to the side, whipping her staff to the side. He had run forward at that moment however and she blow missed. Suddenly she felt her arm start stinging. To her shock, the boy had pulled out a knife and had stabbed her. In his haste, he had completely missed anything vital and was staring at his hands in horror; she took the opportunity to knock him out with the staff.

She left quickly, clutching her arm in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding, and cursing to herself. She wasn't supposed to get into unnecessary fights and draw attention to herself. She stopped in an abandoned alley to bandage the wound. After her multiple accidents, she had learned to always keep a roll of bandages with her. She wrapped the wound tightly. Damnit, she had forgotten to try out her new power.

Hearing the sounds of fighting coming from a nearby alley, she curiously crept over for a closer look. A boy was destroying a group of delinquents with a pair of tonfas. She whistled under her breath, impressed. Unfortunately, the boy seemed to have heard, because he swiftly looked in her direction, and glared. Arya gulped nervously. This boy had an ominous killing intent rising from him. She could tell that he was on a different level than average boys; possibly even on par with Squalo at that age. This "keeping low" thing was getting more and more difficult.

She bowed clumsily and then turned to run, only to choke. The boy had grabbed her collar. "I don't remember seeing you in this town. Are you new?" he asked in a deep voice.

She coughed, rubbing her throat, "Umm, I just got here today."

"Hn. Herbivore, so you're the new student at Namichuu."

"Uh, how do you know that?"

"It's my job to know everything that happens in Namimori."

She smiled brightly, "Then in that case, do you know where I might find the head prefect? I need to ask him something."

He raised a thin eyebrow, "What does an herbivore need from me?"

"I was just gonna ask him if I could wear the boy's uniform, or at least pants, because you know skirts are pretty uncomfortable, and when the wind picks up, it's a hazard to everyone around." she said nervously, sensing a sudden increase in killing intent. She suddenly realized what the boy had said and gasped, "Wait! _You__'__re_ Hibari-san, the head prefect?"

"Hn."

He smirked at her, "A herbivore who's trying to break the school rules. I'll bite you to death."

She cocked her head curiously to the side, "You'll what? Sorry, I'm not into kinky stuff like that…"

He slid his tonfas out of wherever he had been keeping them, and lashed out with one of them. She yelped and ducked, jumping back when the other one came flying toward her too. "Whoa, whoa, sorry! You don't have to atta-"

She was cut off when she realized she was backed against a wall. Laughing nervously, she ducked the two tonfas, letting them smash into the wall, and then pushed the boy as hard as she could.

Taking a chance, she aimed a spinning kick at his chest. It made contact and he stumbled back a little. "_Wao_. You're good. I'm shivering with excitement. Let's fight herbivore."

She took the chance to run in the opposite direction, yelling back at him, "Who the hell said I wanted to fight?"

A tonfa flew past her head and her blood went cold, and she took off, running as fast as she could.

She ran at full speed away from the dark alleyway, checking back to make sure she had lost the bloodthirsty prefect. Actually, it would have been a nice challenge to fight the boy, but she couldn't afford to be found out by someone who went to her school. She stopped when her stomach growled, and she became aware that she was in fact starving. And that she was in Japan. Furthermore, Squalo had kindly lent her his credit card (as an apology of sorts for knocking her out and dumping her on a plane to Japan while she was still unconscious).

Sushi. She wanted sushi. Now. Running through the streets, she idly wondered how it was possible to not be able to find a single sushi shop in the middle of Japan. Her eyes finally spotted one and she took off towards it, almost crashing into another boy. Apologizing hastily, she ran before she could get into more trouble.

The store's bell rang merrily when she entered. The owner walked over and took her order, and she settled down, drooling a little in anticipation. The bell rang again and she glanced over to see the Vongola Decimo and two boys walk in. Her stomach dropped and she turned away, hoping they wouldn't notice her. Her hopes were crushed when the silver haired one yelled, "Ah! Its you! The bitch that ran into Juudaime earlier!"

She reluctantly turned to look at them, scanning the third boy over. Short black hair, friendly brown eyes, a good physique, and was that a baseball bat he was carrying? She got up and ran over, bowing repeatedly, "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry about earlier! I was in a hurry and didn't see you! I'm Ishigeaki Arya. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, please tell me!"

The folder containing the documents for her "transfer" had come with a note. She was supposed to masquerade as a hyper and cheerful girl. Although it was almost the complete opposite of her normal personality, orders were orders. She delivered her performance without a flaw.

That didn't mean that she had to be happy about it however. Inwardly, she fumed, "What the fuck man. I bumped into you. That's hardly a reason to become an indentured servant for the rest of my life. Hurry up and tell me what you want. I want to eat damn it."

The brown haired boy replied, "Ah no, it's no problem. You don't have to do anything. It was my fault too. Anyways, I'm Tsunayoshi Sawada. You can call me Tsuna."

"This is Gokudera Hayato" he gestured to the silver haired boy, "and Yamamoto Takeshi" the other one.

She bowed in greeting to both of them and asked, "It's nice to meet you! I just moved her from Italy so I'm super new to everything! I just visited my new school, Namimori Middle School, today! Omigosh, it was so pretty! And really different from Italian schools!"

"Italy?" Gokudera jumped out of his seat and brought a handful of dynamite, "Are you an assassin sent here to take out Juudaime?"

She inwardly sweat-dropped, thinking, "I wouldn't tell you even if I was?" but pretended to giggle, "Um, no? My family sent me here!" Not exactly a lie.

Tsuna calmed Gokudera down and replied to her original question, "We all go to Namichuu. What year are you?"

"Oh, I'm a third year. What about Tsuna-san?"

"Haha, I guess you're our sempai then. We're second years." Yamamoto replied.

She nodded and continued to chat with them. What seemed like hours later, the shop keeper finally came out with her entrée. She let out a small moan of delight and dug into her sushi with a bright smile directed at the owner, who smiled back. "Ne Takeshi, your friend here is really polite" the owner suddenly said.

Yamamoto grinned, "Ishigeaki-sempai really is. I've never seen someone bow so many times."

Arya laughed awkwardly, "Oh, I read it somewhere in a book that we were supposed to bow? Was that wrong?"

He laughed, "Well, its true that we do bow at formal occasions, but normally with people our own age, its pretty casual."

She cursed Squalo a thousand times. Trust him to get an outdated book. She mentally made a note to replace his shampoo with pink hair dye.

"Oh…I see" she blushed, embarrassed.

Ugh, why did she have to be reduced to these childish reactions? Had she really been like this as a 14-year old? Oh well, at least it fit her character. In any case, it was time to bail.

As she inhaled her food hungrily, she saw Gokudera staring at her out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at him, her cheeks bloated with sushi. He immediately flushed and looked away quickly, glaring at an unfortunate spot on the wall. She shrugged and went back to eating.

Yamamoto laughed when he saw the girl eating, "Ma ma slow down. Don't choke."

She shook her head, swallowed, and replied, "Sorry, I'm really hungry after talking to the head prefect, and I haven't eaten since yesterday."

The silence that followed her statement made her look up from her plate. The stunned looks the three boys were giving her made her uncomfortable. "Umm…did I say something wrong? I practiced Japanese with my brother and he said it was pretty good so I thought…"

"Ahaha no, your Japanese was perfect. It's just…you were looking for Hibari?"

"Yes. I needed to ask him something."

"And what might that be?" Gokudera asked belligerently.

"Oh. Um, I'm really uncomfortable in skirts and the girls' uniform is really restricting. But the principal said that I had to ask the head prefect for permission to wear the boys' uniform."

"Well you're better off not messing with Hibari. That fucking prefect is crazy." Gokudera growled.

Inwardly, Arya agreed with the silver haired dynamite user. But she pretended to laugh and said, "He's not that bad! But he didn't approve of me changing uniforms" she finished, sulking a little.

Arya finished up her sushi, and was about to pay, but Yamamoto laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. It's on the house since you're a friend."

She squealed in delight and hugged him, not noticing the blushes that covered the three boys' faces. "I'll see you tomorrow in school then Yamamoto-kun, Gokudera-san, Tsuna-san!"

She practically skipped out of the sushi shop. When she got back to her apartment however, she was all business. Were Gokudera Hayato and Yamamoto Takeshi trustworthy? She spent the rest of her night going through documents on her laptop.

* * *

><p>"Everyone, this is our new transfer student from Italy, Ishigeaki Arya. Please welcome her" the teacher said.<p>

Arya bowed to the class politely, "I'm looking forward to this year! Please take care of me!"

The class clapped and she went to take her seat in the back, behind an empty one near the window. The class went by slowly and without event; Arya spending the majority of the time staring out the window. At lunchtime, Arya quietly left the class without a word, heading for the rooftop where she could hopefully eat in peace. She opened the door and peered out. Victory, she silently exclaimed. The rooftop was abandoned.

She chose a spot in the corner and sat down to eat her bento. Finishing relatively quickly, she started humming to herself, wanting to practice creating a barrier again. Suddenly the door to the roof slammed open and a white haired boy with a bandage on the bridge of his nose, burst onto the rooftop, yelling, "TRAIN TO THE EXTREME!"

Arya sweat dropped and quietly prepared to leave. At that moment, a boy jumped down from a higher platform of the roof. Arya paled at the familiar figure. The jacket draped over the shoulders, with the disciplinary committee armband. Those tonfas that glinted in the sunlight. It was all too memorable. "Herbivore, for waking me up from my nap, I'll bite you to death."

She watched as the tonfas came down viciously against the loud boy. To her surprise, the boy managed to avoid the blow and was displaying some impressive footwork as he yelled, "HIBARI JOIN THE BOXING CLUB TO THE EXTREME!"

Another one with his priorities out of whack, she thought to herself. Nevertheless, it was a good opportunity to talk to Hibari again to ask about the change of uniform. She was thinking about how to convince him when the loud one spotted her. "OH WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXTREMELY JOIN THE BOXING CLUB?" he shouted.

She cringed at the loud volume but replied politely, "Ah, sorry, I'm not very interested in boxing. I am however interested in changing out of this skirt. Perhaps Hibari-san could let me?"

The boy glared at her, "Herbivore. You will not break the rules here."

"Hibari-san! I don't understand why girls can't wear pants! Isn't this sexism?"

He didn't reply and instead threw a tonfa at her face. She ducked, and realizing it was useless to argue any further, she ran for the door. Her heart raced as she fought down the bloodlust that had risen. Without an outlet for her naturally violent nature, it was hard resisting the urge to fight. Ducking as a bullet came flying out of nowhere, she stiffened. Reborn must be near. Sure enough the baby popped out of the wall, "Arya Cavallone. What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Reborn-san. Its good to see you again. I promise I'm not here to cause any harm. In fact it was Nono who gave me this mission. I'm supposed to keep an eye on Tsunayoshi."

Reborn smirked, "Hn. If any harm comes to my student…"

She raised an eyebrow, "Don't you have any confidence in those two that follow him around everywhere?"

"If you were to seriously fight them, they would stand no chance as they are."

Arya smiled, "Then all you have to do is train them. If it's you, Reborn, it's possible."

* * *

><p>"Kyo-san, many members of the Discipline Committee have been attacked viciously, left almost toothless and shamed. What should we do?" an anxious Kusakabe asked.<p>

The sound of a tonfa smashing into the wall viciously caused Arya to sigh. Should she risk going in now? It was urgent, she decided. She needed to change uniforms as soon as possible. Ever since the rumors that strong disciplinary members had been attacked had spread, she had been on edge. Although Tsuna wasn't strong as he was and therefore might not be attacked, staying in a frilly skirt that offered no protection wasn't an option anymore. She took a deep breath and knocked.

The voices in the room suddenly cut off and an angry "Come in" was heard. She opened the door and walked in confidently. "Hibari-san. I have a favor to ask of you."

"Herbivore. I am in no mood for your games. Leave."

Arya's eyes flashed angrily, "This isn't a game. Students are being attacked left and right. I will not stand by idly when I can do something. Let me wear the boys' uniform, Hibari-san."

The prefect flung a tonfa at her head. Without flinching, she snatched it out of midair and threw it on the ground angrily. This asshole of a prefect was getting in the way of her mission. "Hibari-san. This skirt is restricting. If I were ever attacked in it, I would hardly be able to defend myself. Let me wear the boys' uniform and I'll be able to protect myself and my friends. What do you have to lose?"

"The rules of Namimori will not be broken no matter what situation. I'll bite you to death if you try. Do not bother me anymore herbivore. I will not yield on this matter."

Fuming, Arya resisted flipping him the finger and left, slamming the door behind her. She was getting a really bad feeling about these attacks. They weren't just normal delinquents fighting. There was something bigger going on. Something that would most likely cause her and Tsunayoshi trouble.

As soon as she got home, she called Squalo. "Squalo. Tell me the news."

"Vooiiii. You're in some deep shit. Mukuro Rokudo has escaped and rumors have it that he's in Namimori."

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

I finished Chapter 5! To be honest, this chapter makes me cringe. Its so...forced. Ugh. I just had to find some way to get in all the interactions between Arya and the Vongola Guardians so that it wouldn't be like they were complete strangers. Next chapter is the battle with Mukuro! Which I have no idea how to write... D: So it'll probably be awhile until I update again (well, a week at most).

Oh! I got a review earlier this week that I wanted to address. The reviewer said "A girl who attempted to beat up squalo but cant speak up against a boy who gropes her. R u making this scene just so squalo can save her?" To clarify, Arya couldn't do anything to the boy who was groping her because their engagement was an important part of uniting the Cavallone and Giegue families, and mutilating the son of the Giegue family would be taken badly. On the other hand, she didn't have anything to worry about attacking Squalo as a teenager. Just wanted to clear that issue up for future readers!

Just wanted to ask again, is anyone getting any Mary Sue vibes? I'm trying to fix the problem.

Also! I'm thinking about starting another fanfic. Not sure what it's gonna be called yet, but look forward to it!

Thanks for reading! And please remember to review! :)


	6. Chapter 6: A Day in Kokuyo Land

Arya walked into the hospital, fully intent on beating the details of his attack out of the Disciplinary Committee's second-in-command. She walked into the hospital just as Hibari left, brushing right past him through the rotating doors of the hospital. In her rush, she didn't notice the dangerous aura that the boy was emitting.

It was only after talking to Kusakabe Tetsuya that she found out that Hibari had already gone to deal with the problem. His devotion to Namimori's peace was admirable, but she really had no idea if the boy could take on Rokudo Mukuro, the man who had escaped Vindice Prison itself. Certainly the prefect was strong, but Mukuro had been through the six levels of hell.

Incidentally, she also learned that Tsuna and his group of friends were on their way to Kokuyo Land where Mukuro had situated himself as well. This fact alone alarmed her more than she cared to admit. The few weeks that she had spent in Namimori had allowed the middle-schooler group to worm their way into her heart, and she was incredibly worried about their safety.

So, changing into a pair of comfortable jeans and shirt, she tucked her daggers into their customary places and grabbed her staff. A grim look on her face, she prepared herself for the worst and then left for Kokuyo Land.

* * *

><p>The lair Rokudo Mukuro had picked was a dump to say the least. It hadn't been used in quite a few years, and everything had fallen into disrepair. She immediately located Tsuna and his friends and quietly kept on eye on them, as she picked her way through the old amusement park. Quite a few times she thought she would have to intervene, but they managed to astound her each and every time. Yamamoto's decision to fight for his friends rather than participate in his upcoming baseball game, Bianchi's determination to defend her belief in love, Tsuna's willingness to sacrifice himself for the sake of Kyoko and Haru.<p>

Finally it came down to the supposed Rokudo Mukuro. Wielding a large iron ball and chain, he was certainly a most impressive opponent but Arya could sense no real ill will in him whatsoever. It puzzled her that someone rumored to be so vicious was of no threat. And then it was revealed that the man Lancia was a fake. And now, having used the last dying will bullet, they were certainly in trouble.

The others moved on, but she stayed back to check on Yamamoto. The boy was bruised and battered, but breathing. She took out the roll of bandages in her pocket and started wrapping the worst of the injuries that were bleeding. His eyes flickered and he muttered, "Arya-san?"

She held him down, "Don't move Yamamoto-kun. You're really injured."

"What are you doing here?" he asked weakly.

"Ah, I heard you guys and Hibari-san had come here and I followed" she admitted.

He laughed softly, "Sorry you had to see me when I'm so pathetic."

Arya frowned, "You did a good job fighting. I can understand what Reborn means when he says you're a natural-born hitman. Give it a few years of training with the right teacher, and your skills will skyrocket."

And then she froze. Hopefully Yamamoto was too out of it to notice her slipup. But the cheerful baseball player was sharper than he let others know. "Ne, Arya-san. Why did you hide who you really were from us for so long?"

She sighed, "I'll tell you but you have to promise to not breathe a word to anyone else."

He nodded, and she began telling him her story. Halfway through, she noticed his breathing had evened out, and gently covered the boy with her jacket. "Rest for awhile Yamamoto-kun. You've done well."

She turned in the direction of the building Rokudo Mukuro was in and followed the group.

* * *

><p>She walked into where Gokudera was making his stand with the boy with the hat and barcode tattooed on his face. "Shit! Woman, what the hell are you doing here?" Gokudera yelled.<p>

She pretended to laugh brightly, and replied, "I came to help you guys of course!"

"Then go help Juudaime! This guy is nothing!"

Arya was sorely tempted to stay behind and help him, but her mission decreed that she keep an eye on Tsuna, not his friends. So reluctantly, she nodded and started towards the ladder that led to the next floor. However, it seemed that the opponent was against this idea. He sent his yoyos spinning out, releasing a row of poisonous needles. "Watch out!" Gokudera shouted.

Arya dodged with relative ease, and rolled to avoid his next attack as well. She pulled the knife from her hip out and used it to cut the yoyo strings that were threatening her. "I'll leave this to you Gokudera-kun!" she yelled, and then shimmied up the ladder lithely.

Arya finally found Tsuna and the real Rokudo Mukuro in the cinema of the building. Although both Gokudera and Yamamoto already knew she was there, she decided to bide her time and interfere only when necessary.

Tsuna was facing Mukuro on his own. The first blow or rather blows that Mukuro landed on the Vongola Decimo candidate was shocking even for Arya. The speed at which the man moved was mind-blowing. She could see his movements clearly, but she knew her 14 year old body didn't stand a chance in a fight with him.

Furthermore, the Vindice escapee demonstrated that it wasn't only hand to hand combat that he was skilled at. With a strike of the ground with his trident, high level illusions appeared. Tsuna of course panicked, flailing and screaming; and Arya could only wince when Reborn smacked him in the face viciously, knocking him out of it. Nevertheless, it just showed how powerful Reborn truly was, seeing through the illusions in a second. She herself had been a little unsure, despite having experience with Mammon's high class illusions.

She heard a noise behind her and crouched in a defensive position. It was Gokudera and supporting him, was that Hibari? "Oi woman. Why are you sitting here uselessly? I told you to help the tenth!" the bomber growled.

She rolled her eyes and started bandaging him up, shoving him down when he complained. When she was done with him, she quickly shoved him into the battlefield, where Mukuro's third state of hell had revealed itself. Gokudera busied himself blasting the poisonous snakes to death, while Arya bandaged the worst of Hibari's injuries. "Shit, Mukuro really did a number on you. How many bones have you broken?" she murmured.

"Hn. I'm not weak like you." The proud prefect replied.

When the explosions behind them stopped, Hibari got up and darted through the smoke. He then proceeded to battle Mukuro despite the fact that he was in no condition to move. To her astonishment, he defeated Mukuro before collapsing in an unconscious heap of blood and broken bones. "He's been fighting unconsciously since about halfway through. It must have been very vexing for him to lose that first time." Reborn commented.

"Hibari-san is incredible…" Tsuna said.

More like astonishing, Arya thought to herself, just how strong was the prefect. She found herself itching to fight him in her 22 year old form once again. But she still couldn't relax. Something about this didn't seem right. After all, Mukuro had escaped from Vindice and murdered entire Mafioso families. There was no way he could be defeated so easily, right?

"Arrivederci" Mukuro stated calmly, shooting himself in the head.

Bianchi seemed to recover at that point and got up, asking Gokudera for help. Arya's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She had seen the woman get stabbed in the stomach. There was no way she should be able to stand so easily. And sure enough, as soon as Gokudera got close enough, the poison cooking user slashed his face with a familiar looking trident. She watched as Bianchi tried the same thing with Reborn, feigning confusion.

Gokudera drove Mukuro out of his sister by reciting an exorcism spell; but was possessed himself.

"There's no mistake. He pretended to commit suicide by shooting himself with that bullet." Reborn stated.

Mukuro stumbled over to Hibari's prone form and possessed him. After landing a blow on Tsuna, he collapsed. Arya decided it was time to get involved. Gokudera began throwing dynamite at Tsuna and she ran into the fray, shoving the small boy out of the way. Using his scream's sound waves, she created a mini barrier that protected her from the explosion. Nevertheless, she was still blown back a foot or two.

Tsuna shrieked, "Ishigeaki-san? What are you doing here? When did you get here! Oh no, it's dangerous. You need to get out of here!"

Arya laughed, "I came to help you Tsuna! Now duck!" she yelled, forcing him down as poisonous needles were spit out of a yoyo. Mukuro's henchman had arrived and it seemed they were possessed too.

Immediately afterwards, the yoyos themselves came whirling towards the two of them, looking to ensnare them. She snatched one of the yoyos out of the air and yanked. The entire mess came apart. She pocketed the yoyo, thinking the poisonous needles could come in handy later.

Gokudera began throwing dynamite again and she cursed. She grabbed the boy and dragged him out of the way, as he shrieked. Meanwhile Reborn was also dodging attacks, but remained adamant about not helping out in the fight, stating, "If you're my student, you can surpass yourself."

He recounted the story of how Dino overcame himself in a time of trouble, but Tsuna only screamed, completely confused.

"Look up" Reborn called.

Arya cursed and shoved Tsuna out of the way. He couldn't take any more damage. Unfortunately, she couldn't bring a barrier up quickly enough and was caught in the blast.

The yoyo boy ran towards Tsuna who was now alone. But as he neared him, the boy collapsed, his body going limp. That must be the limit of that boy's body, Arya thought grimly. She slowly got up, clutching her arm that was broken and bleeding profusely. She was much more worried however, for Gokudera and Bianchi. Their bodies couldn't possibly take much more of this stress.

"You alone are the Vongola Decimo. If you vent your true feelings, that is the answer of the Vongola" Reborn told the boy calmly.

"My…true feelings?" Tsuna said hesitantly.

"I think he means what you want to do Tsuna!" Arya yelled, as she used her staff to hold back the animal boy who had pounced at her. "Hurry!"

The multiple Mukuros taunted the boy, but he said calmly, his eyes shadowed, "I want to…defeat Mukuro. Just you! I want to defeat you!" he yelled.

At that moment the ball Leon started glowing. "It's time" Reborn stated.

Leon spit out a pair of woolen gloves that Tsuna clumsily put on. Arya rushed forward and blocked Gokudera's dynamite with a barrier, buying enough time for Reborn to shoot the new bullet at Tsuna.

After the rebukes stopped, the new bullet's other power came into effect. Tsuna's mittens transformed into a pair of gloves; his dying will flame emerging once more, "Even if I'm dying, I will not give up!" he yelled.

The rest of the battle went by in a blur. Arya was barely able to keep her eyes open as she watched Tsuna speed around propelled by the flames on his gloves. "Do it with your dying will then Tsuna" she thought as she fainted.

* * *

><p>Arya's eyes fluttered open and she stared at the unfamiliar ceiling. She heard voices coming from the side and quickly closed her eyes, feigning sleep. "You should be thankful for Arya, useless Tsuna. She used her own body to shield you from the dynamite. Doctor said there were cuts and burns all over her back and arms, plus her right arm is broken."<p>

"Hiii! That's why I didn't want to get Arya-san to get involved! Anyways, Reborn. Why have you never asked Arya-san to be a part of my family?"

A yelp informed Arya that Tsuna had been kicked in the face and most likely knocked out. The baby hitman slipped through the curtain and aimed a kick at Arya's head. Her eyes snapped open and she flailed trying to avoid the kick. "Reborn! You didn't have to kick me!" she pouted.

"When are you planning on telling Tsuna and the others that you're mafia?" he asked, ignoring her question.

She laughed sheepishly, "Actually…I think Yamamoto-kun already knows and Gokudera-kun most likely will have figured it out by now."

"Hn." He left as abruptly as he had come.

The door opened and a nurse walked in, "Ah, Ishigeaki-san, it's good that you've woken up. Someone with a private room has requested that you room with them." Apparently, she hadn't noticed Tsuna's unconscious body on the ground.

"Er…what? I don't think I need to stay in the hospital anymore. My arm is in a cast and my burns will heal by themselves with some ointment…" she trailed off when the nurse gave her a look that clearly indicated no arguing.

She followed the nurse to a room, and raised an eyebrow when the woman ran off immediately. She opened the door and froze. Sitting in the bed was the fearsome prefect of Namimori, Hibari Kyouya. So that's why the nurse escaped so quickly, she thought.

"Umm, Hibari-san. Hi. The nurse said I was requested to be moved here?"

He simply replied, "I hate owing debts to ohers" before closing his eyes and resuming his nap.

She situated herself on the other bed in the room, taking care to remain quiet, and closed her eyes wearily. Unable to help herself, she slipped into sleep in the peaceful room.

* * *

><p>Hibari was sleeping when he heard a low moan come from the other side of the room. His eyes snapped open and he growled, "Herbivore, you are being too loud."<p>

When no reply came, he turned to look at the girl. Her eyes were closed but she looked clammy and was sweating profusely. She had turned to lie on her stomach and it was clear that the burns on her back were bothering her. He sighed and called for a nurse to help her.

Arya turned uncomfortably in her sleep, an intense burning feeling covering her back. Unable to make the pain go away, she moaned unconsciously. She heard a voice that seemed familiar say something, but she was too deep asleep to realize what it was. A moment later, cool relief spread over her back, and she sighed, murmuring, "Thanks Hibari-san."

Hibari heard this and raised an eyebrow, having been unaware that the girl had been awake. Upon closer inspection, he determined that she was in fact asleep, but that her subconscious had automatically responded. Thinking no further, he returned to his bed and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>"I should've known there was a catch to letting me stay in that private room" Arya thought grimly, as she leaped backwards. "This stupid bloodthirsty prefect, why the hell is he so desperate to pick a fight with me? It's like meeting a second Squalo, only this one is quiet."<p>

She didn't have a chance to think any further when the tonfas came crashing down towards her head. She brought her staff up to defend, but at the last moment, one of the tonfas smashed into her stomach, sending her flying. She groaned, but got back up, knowing the boy wouldn't hesitate to beat her unconscious on the ground.

Sure enough, the boy was there when she got up, and again, she had to defend herself from a vicious onslaught of attacks. If only her reflexes and movements were of that of her 22 year old self. She would teach this brat a lesson he would remember. Unfortunately, with her right arm still in a cast, the most she could do was block clumsily with her left, while attempting to dodge as many attacks as possible. It seemed that every time they fought, Hibari got more powerful and learned from her tricks.

She panted and whipped her staff around to jab him in the stomach, sick of playing only defensive. But his tonfas were there blocking the attack. She looked at him wearily; there were no signs of stopping as of yet. "Hey, um Hibari-san. Could we stop for today? I'm really tired and hungry; and I promised Yamamoto-kun and the others that I would stop by his shop today for sushi."

A tonfa was thrown at her head. "I'll take that as a no", she thought, "But still, I really want to stop fighting."

She dodged the tonfa and ran to engage with the prefect.

* * *

><p>"Arya-san! What happened to you?" Tsuna asked later, horrified.<p>

She winced in response, "A skylark attacked me."

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

I posted this chapter earlier than I thought I would. My first draft was all narration and I thought... wow, this sucks and no one's gonna want to read it. So, I desperately added some dialogue in, and as I wrote, it got a bit easier. But I still don't like it very much :/ Maybe I'm picky, I don't know... All I know is that the more I write, the more I run out of inspiration lmao. D:

So, unfortunately, no Varia in this chapter, BUT! they will be coming back in the next one with the Ring Battle Arc! Look forward to it. :3

Also, thanks as always to everyone who has read and reviewed! I'm so happy that people are actually favoriting and following this story! And it definitely encourages me to keep going even when I want to throw my laptop across the room. :D

As always, read and review~


	7. Chapter 7: Return to the Varia

They were all skipping a review session, wandering around town, and relaxing when an explosion came from a nearby building. To their shock, a boy came falling out of the sky, crashing into Tsuna. Immediately, Reborn enlisted Arya's help to get the girls, Kyoko and Haru, to safety. They shepherded them away quickly.

By the time Arya got back, a familiar silver haired idiot was threatening the group of middle-schoolers.

Squalo turned to Tsuna, but his blade was blocked by the light brown haired boy once again. Pissed, the swordsman beat him back, saying, "You stray dog, I'll just ask the other boy for answers. You can go die!"

Suddenly a familiar staff was blocking his sword. Arya panted, she had barely made it on time. "Squalo, what the fuck are you doing?"

"Vooiiii. Woman, good timing. Saves me the trouble of having to go find you. We're going back. Xanxus's orders. Mammon says breaking the necklace will undo the illusion."

She put her staff away and pulled the necklace off her neck. She crushed the pendant in one hand, and a purple mist shimmered in front of her, before disappearing to reveal what she really looked like.

Although not much taller, Arya's 22 year old self was definitely different. Her hair was longer, her purple eyes glowed more fiercely, and of course her body was much more developed (although she really only cared about the muscle). She stretched happily. "God, it feels good being 22 again. Heaven forbid anyone have to go through puberty twice."

Tsuna gaped in surprise, asking hesitantly, "Arya-san? What-"

She ignored him and walked over to Squalo, "So, why are you chasing the kid?"

"Iemitsu sent him here for something. Xanxus told me to find out what."

She raised an eyebrow and turned to the light brown haired boy with the blue dying will flame on his forehead, "Listen, I don't know what it is you're hiding, but it's best if you just tell him. Squalo doesn't exactly go easy on his opponents."

"Vooiiii! You don't have to sound so bitter when you're saying that!"

This seemed to remind her of something, because she turned around and punched the swordsman in the face, sending him flying back. "You asshole! I just remembered! You fucking knocked me out to get on that damn plane! AND WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT SKIRT COME FROM?"

He groaned, "Shit woman. You're still not over that?"

Arya smiled innocently at him, "No, now I am. Anyways to business" her eyes sharpened and she walked over to Basil. "Look kid. Just tell us-"

An explosion sent her jumping back. When the smoke cleared, both the kid and Tsuna had disappeared. Or had tried to. They were clearly behind a table. She growled, "Fuck. You can do what you want with the kid Squalo. I warned him. Oh, but don't hurt the other boy, yeah? That's the Vongola Decimo there."

As she watched Squalo menace the kids, a familiar voice caught her attention. "You're just like always, Superbi Squalo."

"Isn't it embarrassing being so rough on kids?" the person said.

"Dino-san!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"The Bucking Horse?" Squalo thought, glancing at Arya who was also frozen.

"If you don't stop this distasteful game of yours, then I'll be your opponent." Dino stated.

"Vooiiii Bucking Horse. I have no problem with killing you right here, but what about your sister?"

"Arya?" Dino asked, surprised, "Why are you not protecting Tsuna? What about your orders?"

The girl pulled her staff out, "Orders were overruled by Xanxus. Sorry Dino. I'm not on your side this time."

"Well, if I fight people from allied families, the higher ups will be nagging me." Squalo said. "For today, I'll quietly… NOT GO HOME!"

He picked up Tsuna by the hair, and Dino darted forward, "Let go of him!"

Squalo sent gunpowder flying, providing a smoke cover. Dino cursed, coughing.

"For your sake I'll leave their lives in your hands" Squalo said, "But I'll take this", holding up the box of rings.

He signaled to Arya and without a word, they left.

* * *

><p>On the plane ride back, Arya was relatively quiet. Squalo growled, "Vooiiii. You can't even greet me properly after all this time?"<p>

Arya looked up alarmed, "Oh Squalo! Yeah, it's good to see you again." Her voice trailed off quietly and her eyes were downcast.

"Look woman. Those stupid kids are fine okay?" he said reluctantly.

She nodded and spent the rest of the plane ride staring out the window.

* * *

><p>The second she stepped into the Varia mansion, Arya was hit with a sense of déjà-vu. It was like the first time she had come to the mansion. Not a thing had changed. A blur of blonde came flying down the stairs into her arms and Bel was there, like always, "Ushishishishi the Principessa finally came back. The Prince was so bored without you."<p>

She ruffled his hair, "Did the Prince behave himself while I was gone?" she asked sternly.

"He did not" Squalo growled, "The little shit went fucking berserk on one of our missions."

Bel threw knives at the swordsman, "No cares about your opinion stupid peasant."

Arya sighed, "Prince, did you really? I told you to be careful right?"

At that moment, Lussuria pranced down the stairs, "Daaarrling! I've missed you!"

He turned to Squalo, "Tell me you got pictures of my darling in a middle school uniform?"

Squalo hid a blush by yelling, "Vooiiii! Why the hell would I do something like that?"

Lussuria pouted, "Squ-chan, you kept it all to yourself? How cruel!"

Arya rolled her eyes, but broke up the fight, laughing. It was good to be home.

* * *

><p>"VOOIIII WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR YOU SHITTY BOSS?" Squalo roared, brushing glass out of his hair.<p>

Xanxus took the two halves of the Vongola ring apart and crushed one half. "You brought a fake you trash."

Arya sighed, "Guess you're paying Japan a visit then?"

"You're coming too trash."

She cocked her head to one side inquisitively.

"You have a different mission. Squalo will brief you."

Having been worried about how she would face Tsuna and his guardians after leaving without a word of explanation, she was extremely thankful. Once again, Xanxus had proven that he was without a doubt the boss that she had placed her trust in since the beginning.

* * *

><p>Arya split up with the rest of the Varia at the airport. She went through the details of her mission. A small mafia family in the area called the Scomparsa had gotten cocky. At first it was just simply harassing the inhabitants of Namimori, but that had been stopped by a certain individual. Arya had shuddered after reading this. Who else could there be but Hibari? After being thwarted, they had continued to cause bits of mayhem here and there. All of it which pointed back to the Vongola Tenth candidate. And now, they had received intelligence that Tsunayoshi's life was their newest target. "Those idiots" she thought, "He might just be a candidate right now, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't move to take down any enemies of the Vongola."<p>

She planned to visit the area they had last been rumored to have been seen at, but the sight of one of Levi's men passing by caught her attention. She wasn't sure who the Lightning Guardian would be, but it was best to at least make sure they weren't killed, she decided. Quickly, she followed.

She arrived at the scene only to find not only Levi, but Lussuria, Bel, Mammon, and Gola Mosca there as well. In the street below them, stood Ryohei, Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Tsuna, who were protectively guarding three kids. Lambo, I-pin, and Fuuta were unlucky to have been caught up in all this, she thought.

"Don't hunt them all on your own" Lussuria said.

"It looks like there are other wielders of the ring here as well" Mammon commented.

"VOOOIIIIII! How dare you trick me, you piece of trash!" a loud voice from the side roared.

She hadn't noticed Squalo until now. Silently she snorted, thinking, "You dumbass. It's your fault you got tricked." "Who wields the ring of rain?" he asked.

"Me." Yamamoto replied.

"Oh, it's you. 3 seconds. I'll slice you up in 3 seconds."

Arya flinched. Squalo wasn't kidding.

He was about to make good his promise when a hand came down on his shoulder, stopping him. Xanxus. Her boss raised a hand, about to eliminate them all, when a sudden shot in front of him made him pause. Iemitsu, the external advisor. Satisfied that no one would be killed, she left silently.

* * *

><p>Arya sniffed in disdain. The abandoned warehouse was a mess, broken beer bottles and cigarette butts everywhere. "It's people like this that give mafia a bad name." she thought to herself. Nevertheless, it was nice that they had left such an obvious sign that they had been here.<p>

Well, she had plenty of time to finish the mission. For now, she might as well go back to the hotel to see what was happening to the Rings.

"You're bullshitting me." She stated bluntly, "You're supposed to fight them one on one for the rings? And this is supposed to prove who is worthier?"

"Vooiiii! We didn't decide these shitty rules! Otherwise, we'd be on a plane back to Italy by now!"

"It certainly is a waste of time. They should be charged a fee." Mammon agreed.

"Ushishishishi. The Prince can't wait to fight his opponent."

Arya bit her lip, worried. Sure the middle schoolers had won against Mukuro and his gang, but the Varia was a completely different matter. They weren't known as the elite assassination squad for nothing.

Suddenly she thought of something, "Wait, I'm not a guardian right?"

Xanxus grunted, "I don't need weak trash like you."

Although inwardly relieved, she couldn't help but pout a little, "You would rather have that hunk of metal as a guardian than have me?"

The man ignored her and went back to his meal.

* * *

><p>Hearing voices at the warehouse, Arya approached cautiously. For some reason, they seemed incredibly familiar. Getting closer, she listened in.<p>

"Reborn, are you sure this will work?"

A yelp followed, before a childish voice replied, "I told you she's already in Japan. You just have wait."

Arya glowered silently. What the fuck were Dino and Reborn doing here?

She came out into the open and voiced her thoughts. Dino ran to her with open arms, but faltered when he saw the look on her face. A look that plainly stated "Come anywhere near me and I will show you what hell looks like."

He laughed nervously, "Now now Arya. You don't have to be so angry. I just needed you to come to Japan to help me with something."

"Don't tell me you made up this entire thing and let it leak to the Vongola just so you could get me to come here? Haven't you ever heard of a fucking phone? What the hell am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to report that back to Xanxus?" She imitated Xanxus's gruff voice, "Oi trash, where's your report." "Oh sorry Boss, the enemy was a figment of your imagination!"

"I'll get blown to kingdom come!" she shrieked.

Reborn jumped and kicked her in the face. She groaned, "_Fuck_. Reborn, why do you have to do that?"

"Be quiet and listen to my useless student."

"Actually, the reason I called you here" Dino began. Arya snorted. "Is because my student really wants to fight you seriously. And I think you can teach him."

"And why do I give a damn about your student?" she asked.

Out of the shadows, a familiar person appeared and growled, "Herbivore. You are to keep growth spurts to a reasonable level. This time I _will_ bite you to death."

"Kyouya…" Dino sighed.

Arya chose to ignore his comment, but her eyes had already begun to glow with anticipation; the thought of being able to relieve all her frustration on the bloodthirsty boy was welcoming. When the boy didn't immediately attack her, she asked surprised, "What, now that I'm 22, you're treating me differently? What happened to the customary tonfa in the face that you used to greet me with?"

Dino groaned, trust the bloodthirsty girl to forget her goal completely in favor of fighting. Hibari however seemed pleased. He charged forward, tonfas at the ready. She blocked his strikes, twirling her staff nonchalantly. Separating the three parts, she wielded them like nun chucks and catching the prefect off guard, sent one of his tonfas flying. He grinned in delight, and pressed a button the side, allowing a chain and spike to drop from the bottom of the tonfa.

He whirled the chain, and leaped forward. Arya dodged out of the way, and the impact of the chain destroyed the wall she had been standing in front of. "Tsk tsk, I don't think the prefect should be destroying private property like that, should he?"

The nun chucks snapped forward and caught Hibari in the arm. He showed no sign of pain and lashed at her with the tonfas when she was close enough. She partially took the blow to see how strong he was, and then cursed to herself. The boy could beat an elephant to death with ease. She snapped the staff back together and began parrying his blows with skill. Calling over her shoulder, she said, "Dino, get in here. We're gonna do some three-way battling. It's every man and woman for him or herself."

The blond haired man sighed, and readied his whip. He approached the two cautiously, and then lashed his whip. Arya ducked the flailing leather and rolled to avoid the incoming tonfas. As she passed, her staff caught Hibari in the side. He took the blow with minimum damage and she nodded in approval, only to have to backtrack quickly as he chased after her with the tonfas. Taking the risk of getting hit by Dino's whip, she darted into the fray and used the same attack with her staff. This time Hibari dodged it, and Arya grinned in approval. He had adapted quickly. The smile was wiped off her face when Dino's whip came hurtling towards her. She only had time to lessen the blow, but thinking quickly; she caught the whip on her staff and yanked sharply. Dino still had hold of his end of the whip, but she had stopped its movement and in the process, wrapped it around Hibari's remaining tonfa.

Her staff clicked and the blade sprang out, slicing fluidly through the whip. In the same motion, she unconnected the bottom of the staff and used the chain and staff section to entrap Hibari. If he moved, it was possible he would break his neck. And yet to her shock, he didn't hesitate to push himself forward and continue his attack. She let go of him and jumped back a few paces, panting. The boy truly was impressive to be able to keep up this long relentlessly.

She was breathing harshly when she turned to Dino. "You've done a good job teaching him. His movements are fluid, his power is impressive for someone of his age, and he adapts well. But he has no awareness for his own condition. That last attack, I could've broken his neck, and yet he continued to fight. If I was actually trying to kill him, he would've died. This is the Varia you're dealing with. We're not called the special elite assassination squad for nothing. My side will be fighting to kill. Other than that, he fights well."

"Where are you going herbivore? We're not done yet."

She smiled impishly and replied, "Sorry _Kyouya_. But the 22 year old me has other things to do other than dance with you all day."

Hibari snarled, "Herbivore-"

She cut him off, saying, "I have to go check up on my Prince and make sure he hasn't gone on a rampage. See you around Dino, Reborn, Kyouya."

She waved and left.

Reborn smiled innocently, "Ah, I forgot to tell her that there really is a group called the Scomparsa here. And they actually are after Useless Tsuna's life."

Dino paled, "Reborn! Why do you always have to take such extremes?" He hurried after his sister.

* * *

><p>Omake:<p>

"VOIIIII WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?"

"Now now Squ-chan. It doesn't look that bad. Actually, I think that shade of pink is quite flattering on you." Lussuria tried placating the angry swordsman.

Arya's lips twitched, but she continued eating her breakfast calmly. Loud footsteps alerted her to the presence of her rival. She turned to look at him and spit out her drink. The swordsman's long tresses of hair were a bright neon pink. She quickly turned back to her food, covering her mouth with her hand.

"VOIIII WHO THE HELL DID THIS?"

"Ushishishishi The Prince doesn't see a problem." Bel said, lounging on a couch nearby.

"See Squ-chan! We agree that you look fine! It's a bold fashion statement!"

With every comment, Squalo's eyebrow twitched a little more. A sudden flash caught his attention. Mammon was sitting on Bel's shoulder, taking pictures of him. That was the last straw. He looked around for something to throw, and spotted Arya sitting in her seat, muffling her laughter with a bread roll.

At the incredulous look on his face, she couldn't take it anymore and fell on the ground laughing. The pink-haired man growled, "_You_. I'll kill you!"

He lunged for her, fully intent on choking the life out of the woman. She dodged nimbly, still choking on laughter, "Oh but Squalo! It's such a bold fashion statement!"

A few days later, Arya was nursing a large bruise and Squalo. Squalo had _finally_ gotten rid of the pink hair dye in his hair. Arya grinned at him at the breakfast table and murmured idly, "Maybe next time, you won't get me an out of date culture book."

He deadpanned, "That's why you dyed my hair pink?"

She smirked, "Never underestimate your opponent."

Let it be known that this incident endeared Arya to Mammon deeply, as he was able to use his pictures as both blackmail and a source of income. Apparently pink haired men were popular online. The mysterious disappearance of the perverts who had bought the pictures? No, they had nothing to do with Squalo.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

As promised! Chapter 7 on Sunday! This chapter was definitely easier to write than the two that came before it, since I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but I still had trouble with wording which is why it took me so long. The omake at the end was a reference to chapter 5, when Arya was told that bowing was a bit outdated. I was bored and wanted to put it in lol. So, tell me if that was okay? I'm not very good at humor. I don't know, what I think is funny is usually never funny. :/

Chapter 8 will be out on Wednesday? Possibly earlier. I have ideas but none of them are coherent yet and I also wanna try starting another Reborn fanfic idea that I have. Look forward to it :3

Anyways, read and review as always~


	8. Chapter 8: Ring Battles Start!

Arya was completely unprepared when she stepped out of the warehouse only to be confronted by a group of men in suits. Upon seeing her, they started shouting angrily and pulling out weapons. It was at that moment Dino came running outside, yelling, "Arya, those are the real Scomparsa!"

Seeing the look of panic on his face, she knew he wasn't acting. Immediately, she jumped into action and pulled out her staff. As she was taking care of the mafia group, Reborn had slipped away and unbeknownst to her, had led Tsuna and his friends to where she was. As she was about to cut down the last man, she caught sight of Tsuna staring at her with horrified eyes. She faltered, and the man stabbed her.

She felt the cut and stared at the blood on her hands. As much as she didn't want the middle-schoolers witnessing such things, she knew she didn't have a choice. The man ran for the exit, and Arya pulled out a knife from her boot. She could hear Tsuna yelling at her to stop and let him go, but she ignored him and slung the dagger at the man's back. It impaled him cleanly, making a sickening thud, and he fell to the ground.

Arya walked over the man and pulled out her knife, wiping it clean on his clothes. "Arya-san! Why did you kill him? You didn't have to…"

She turned to face Tsuna and his friends, her eyes cold. "This is the mafia. There's no such thing as mercy. It's a kill or be killed world. If you're not ready to accept the consequences, then stop playing around."

Yamamoto laughed a little, "Haha, sempai. That was really good acting. Are you all practicing for a play or something?"

Her eyes sharpened and she focused on him, "Yamamoto, this isn't an act. It's time to start seeing reality."

The boy's forced laughter trailed off and his eyes hardened. That's right, she thought. Hate me. I am not your ally in this fight. You can't rely on me.

Turning, she walked out of the warehouse without a single backwards glance. As she left, she apologized silently, "I'm sorry guys, but you need to have the will to win this fight. The Varia won't hesitate to kill you and I can't stop them either."

* * *

><p>It was the fight between the Sun Guardians, Lussuria and Ryohei. The Varia were smugly watching as Lussuria toyed with the boy. Arya winced as his metal knee met Ryohei's left fist in a sickening crunch. There was no way to interfere nor did she want to. If Tsuna and his friends were getting dragged into the mafia world, then they had to be prepared for the consequences.<p>

"Maximum Cannon!" Ryohei shouted, aiming his fist up. The punch barely caught Lussuria in the chin and the man landed skillfully.

"It looks like I can finally fight you in a fair situation" Ryohei said, "I can open my eyes now!"

Tsuna's side started cheering, but Arya's eyes narrowed, analyzing the situation. While it was certainly more advantageous for the boy to be able to see, would it make much of a difference? He was already injured, tired, and dehydrated. "Whether you have your eyes opened or not, I don't care" Lussuria said, "What's unbelievable is that the power of his fists has the power to break the lights."

"Lussuria, look at his body carefully" Bel said calmly.

The Muay Thai expert exclaimed in surprise and after explaining the situation to Tsuna's side, he promptly copied the boxer's trick. They proceeded to continue to their fight and once again, Lussuria used his knee to counter Ryohei's right punch. Just then Kyoko and Hana showed up. Reacting to the cries and pleas of his little sister, Ryohei stood up once more firmly. This time, his punch shattered Lussuria's knee.

"Looks like the match is done. Now there's no way for Lussuria to avoid that punch." Mammon said apathetically.

"That pervert makes me laugh" Bel commented.

Arya closed her eyes for what was to come. Meanwhile in the ring, Lussuria was desperately trying to continue the fight. And as predicted, Gola Mosca shot the man through the back. The Cervello immediately took charge of the situation, "At this moment, Lussuria is unable to continue fighting. Therefore, Sasagawa Ryohei is the victor of the scramble battle for the ring of the sun."

"Tomorrow evening's battle will be the match between the Thunder Guardians."

* * *

><p>Arya sat next to the hospital bed that Lussuria was occupying. She murmured quietly, "Get better soon Luss-nee-chan. I promise we'll go on that shopping trip and I'll even let you buy me whatever shoes you want."<p>

"_Dino, I need your help! Please, Lussuria's not looking good!" Arya shouted into the phone, held clumsily between her ear and shoulder. She was desperately trying to stop the bleeding._

"_What? Sure, I'll be-" there was a yelp and his voice cut off, replaced by Reborn's. "He'll help you if you continue training Hibari."_

_She agreed immediately, "I'll train the bloodthirsty prick! Just please, help me!"_

* * *

><p>The staff came up to block another strike from the tonfas. Hibari jumped back, "Herbivore. Go back. I don't need you."<p>

Arya blinked in confusion, "What?"

"Kyouya's right, Arya. You're clearly tired and not concentrating on the fight. I'll take over for today." Dino added.

The girl growled, "Well excuse me for not being in top condition. I just have a heavily injured friend in the hospital, and guilt about murdering middle schoolers weighing on my conscious. That's all!"

She flicked the blade out of the staff and attacked the cloud guardian again, this time earnestly. They resumed the fight with more vigor, and by the time they were exhausted and unable to move, Arya had found a few things she could help Hibari improve. Since they were currently using Dino's money, they were staying for one night in a luxurious hotel in the middle of the mountains. Arya and Dino were sharing a room, and Hibari was in his own private suite.

The girl decided to take full advantage of the privileges of Dino's influence, and went to soak in the onsen that night. She sank into the hot water, her mind full of worry. The Lightning Guardian battle was taking place at this very minute. Levi versus who? Either way, it was scary to think about. Out of all the Varia executives, Levi was possibly the most merciless. Everything he did was for the boss, and there was no way he would allow himself to lose an important match like this. There was no use worrying about it, she decided. All she could do was continue training Hibari to reach his full potential. Although at rate he was improving, it seemed like the boy's potential was infinite.

* * *

><p>"Excellent Kyouya!" Arya called, "Just let the spikes in the tonfas do the damage for you while you save your strength!"<p>

"Arya! Stop just commenting and help me!" Dino called, his whip lashing.

She shook her head, "Nope not happening. Anyways, why don't you use that on him? Isn't it time?"

Dino dodged a tonfa attack and grimly grasped his whip. "Prepare yourself Kyouya!" he yelled. And then it began. His ultimate attack. "Salto Volante Veloce Come Luce!" he said, as his whip began moving in a complicated pattern at top speed.

Hibari growled and tried avoiding the strikes. Although he did manage to avoid much of it, the pattern was too complicated for him to read, and he was struck viciously. When the attack was over, he was kneeling on the ground, spitting out blood. "Kyouya! I'm sorry!" Dino said, rushing over to his student's side.

He was silenced when Hibari grabbed his tonfas and swiped at the blonde. "We're done" Arya called firmly. She walked over and pulled Hibari up onto his feet. "Your training is complete" she said.

"Eh? But he-" Dino began.

"He's done. He managed to avoid most of your attack. Your ultimate attack said to be unstoppable unless you know the pattern. He's learned as much as he can from us. The rest is up to him."

Dino nodded somberly. "I'll call a helicopter."

* * *

><p>"What do you think you're doing in my school?" Hibari asked, tonfas raised, livid at the amount of damage.<p>

Arya was standing behind him, her head in her hands, muttering, "Why do I always have to deal with the fucking bloodthirsty ones? _Why_?"

In a fit of rage, Levi rushed forward to attack the prefect, who skillfully moved out of the way. "Ah, Levi! Stop, don't fight with him!"

Squalo meanwhile was grinning with delight, "VOIIII So how many times should I slash you open?"

The Cervello interrupted them and Yamamoto went to stop Hibari, "Calm down, Hibari. I know you're angry but-"

"You're in the way. Don't stand in front of me!" he replied, swiping at the boy with his tonfas.

In a feat of incredible footwork, Yamamoto darted around him and grabbed his weapon, replying seriously, "That long-hair is my opponent. Please be patient a little while longer."

Arya gaped at the sudden change. Yamamoto had done some serious training. Nevertheless she quickly rushed over and grabbed Hibari's arms, restraining him. As she stopped him from destroying everyone, Reborn spoke up, mentioning a chance to fight Rokudo Mukuro. The prefect instantly stilled and then brushing off Arya's hands, he left, telling Yamamoto not to lose.

"Vooiiii katana brat! Where did you learn to move like that! I like it! And this way your chances of winning have gone from 0% to still being 0%!" Squalo leered.

He turned to Arya and said, "Vooiiii woman. Grab the royal trash over there and let's go" before leaping out the window.

Arya gasped when she saw Bel covered in wounds, bleeding profusely. She turned to glare at Gokudera, but saw that he was also extremely hurt. Her face took on a look of regret and she hurriedly left with her prince.

* * *

><p>"VOOIIII! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING WITH THAT TRASH?" Squalo yelled, enraged.<p>

They were all staring at her, distrust brewing in their eyes.

"I had to repay Dino's favor, alright?" she replied, completely on edge, "I'm not on their side!"

Her voice faltered, and she muttered, "The Varia is my family. Nothing else is more important. I won't betray you."

Nevertheless that night when the rest had gone to sleep, Arya lay in her bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. Why had the Ninth sent her to protect Tsuna? Had he known that Xanxus would try to overthrow him? Was this all a ploy to force her to help the middle-schoolers out of guilt?

* * *

><p>The battle between Yamamoto and Squalo had come all too quickly. Squalo was as ruthless as ever, but she had to admit that Yamamoto was impressive in his own way. The Shigure Souen Style was executed relatively well and he seemed to be able to respond to different situations appropriately. Like she had originally thought, the boy was a natural assassin. But that wouldn't be enough to defeat Squalo, especially since the look on his face indicated that he had already figured out what sword style Yamamoto was using. His actions confirmed her suspicions. When Yamamoto charged forward for the first time and used the 5th offensive form, Early Summer Rain, Squalo threw his body backwards, deflecting the blow, and took zero damage.<p>

Arya shook her head. The swordsman had figured it out. It was over for Yamamoto. She closed her eyes and hid her face in Bel's shoulder. The boy looked at her, but didn't say anything, choosing to continue watching the match. It was only when Squalo started yelling in rage that she looked up. She was surprised to see Squalo looking a little offset, and Yamamoto grinning broadly about something. That attack he had used, Pouring Rain; it was different from the Autumn Rain Squalo had mentioned?

"Ah. So that's what it was" she murmured. She smiled wryly, "Good luck Yamamoto, you've only got one chance."

Yamamoto unleashed a large wave of water, which Squalo dodged. As he approached the middle of the wave, Yamamoto appeared behind him. Squalo's mechanical hand rotated 180 degrees and stabbed the boy through the middle. But the water disappeared along with the boy, who suddenly appeared above him and whacked him on the head with the back of his blade. As Squalo fell, Yamamoto grabbed the ring.

Xanxus started laughing, and Levi made a move to enter the combat area to finish the man off, but the Cervello appeared, saying, "It is dangerous to enter the combat area at the moment. The designated water depth has been reached, and the ferocious sea beast has been released."

Arya smiled sadly when Yamamoto attempted to help Squalo, despite the large shark that was bearing down on them. In a voice almost too quiet to hear, Squalo growled, "Put me down. You're tainting my honor as a swordsman."

Yamamoto was baffled, and suddenly Squalo was roaring, "VOOIIII You're too noisy!"

He kicked him away and then turned to meet the shark. The ferocious sea creature slammed into Squalo and both of them disappeared underwater. There was a shocked silence.

Arya didn't even realize she was screaming until Bel pulled her away from the scene. She saw Yamamoto's pained look of regret and anger; the image burned into her mind. And snapped.

She flung Bel's hand off her and started sprinting towards the battle field. There was no way Squalo would be eaten by a stupid shark. The irony of it wasn't even funny. But even as she tried running, Gola Mosca was restraining her. Xanxus had no intention of letting her charge off to her death just yet. In her distraught state, she could only weakly pummel the machine.

* * *

><p>Weary bloodshot eyes stared dully at the battle of the illusion-users. It was Mammon vs. a girl named Chrome Dokuro. In her apathetic state, the illusions didn't even register as impressive in her mind. Even when the real Rokudo Mukuro appeared, Arya made no movement of recognition.<p>

* * *

><p>Arya tossed and turned in her sleep, Squalo's death replaying repeatedly in her nightmare. She could do nothing. The tendrils of her mind held her steadfast, eyes unblinking, to witness the horror a thousand times. And on the thousandth time, the scenery changed. The scene faded and she found herself in a room full of mirrors. She smiled wryly. Who knew that her subconscious was so clichéd. To force her to honestly face what was in front of her. She made a face at the mirror and watched as it morphed into something grotesque.<p>

"Kufufu. Oya oya, I had no idea your mind was so amusing." A voice behind her made her stiffen.

She whirled around to see Rokudo Mukuro waving at her, without a care in the world. Her eyes narrowed and she hissed, "What are you doing here?"

He bowed grandly, "I just thought I'd come to make an official greeting. After all, you were rather preoccupied during my battle."

She snorted and buried her face in her hands. "And? What do you want from me?"

The blue haired man raised a delicate eyebrow and raised his hands in surrender, "All right. You caught me. I came here to take sanctuary in your mind. It's quite a relaxing place to be in. And easy to enter. Your mind is like an unlocked room, just waiting to be explored. You have no barriers blocking me whatsoever. It's also quite organized isn't it? This is your reflection room. The room before this one was your nightmare and fear room."

He ducked just in time as Arya swung a fist at him. "Oya oya be careful now! Who knows what will happen if you break a mirror?"

"Then get out of my mind you asshole."

He laughed, "You are quite delightful my dear! Would you rather return to that room full of your memory of your beloved shark dying?"

Arya closed her eyes wearily, "Whatever happens, happens."

"Kufufu. If I allow that to happen, you will be too weary to do anything in the real world. And that would be most unamusing. So for now, I suppose I will move aside a few of these unpleasant memories. Sleep and forget, my dear."

With a wave of his hand, Arya's eyes rolled back in her head and the room disappeared.

Arya rolled over in her bed and sighed, finally able to sleep peacefully.

* * *

><p>Gola Mosca flew towards Hibari. The prefect lunged and struck twice. Standing a few meters away, he yawned as the machine exploded. Tsuna's side gaped in shock, while the Varia whistled.<p>

When Hibari turned to Xanxus and demanded that he face him, however, Arya knew that they were in some trouble. Xanxus, to her surprise, leaped into the battleground. He balanced on Hibari's raised tonfas before jumping back, landing on a landmine. The both of them jumped away from the explosion and continued to fight. Just as Xanxus finally raised an arm to protect himself, the otherwise motionless Gola Mosca shot Hibari's leg.

And then just like that, all hell broke loose. The malfunctioning Gola Mosca began firing at everyone and everything, going completely berserk. Thinking only that their lives were in danger, Arya launched herself across the battlefield, running straight for the cornered Gokudera, Yamamoto and Ryohei. She shoved them out of the way just as Gola Mosca shot a particle beam at them. She brought up a barrier, fortified by her desire to protect, and managed to deflect it. As she was doing so, she caught sight of Chrome and the two Kokuyo boys protecting her. Mosca was aiming at them. She threw a hand out towards them and screamed. The distortions in the air responded to her desperate command and formed a barrier around the three.

At that moment, Tsuna arrived, carried by his beautiful sky flames. He grappled with the Mosca and it changed its target to the boy. Swiftly, Tsuna defeated the Mosca and tore it open. And to their horror, a man fell out. Not just any man. Vongola Nono.

Xanxus and Tsuna were talking about something, but Arya couldn't hear a thing. The loud ringing in her ears had returned. All the sound waves in the area were stifling. She pressed her hands to her ears and focused on parting the sounds. But the stress of the past week along with the brutal onslaught of sound waves was too much for her to bear. She collapsed on the ground, clutching her head. A scream speaking of desperation and loss rose to her throat. Even as she tried stopping it, it rose to her lips unbidden.

The Cervello were announcing that the Vongola Ring ownership would be decided through the Sky Ring Battle when the earsplitting scream tore through the air. Following it, came a large wave of destruction that tore up the ground. When the dust had cleared up and silence reigned once more, Arya was lying in the middle of the path of destruction.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Hey everyone! Sorry this was updated so late! I was typing up chapter 9 and trying to decide if I wanted anything in that chapter to be put into chapter 8. This chapter started out absolutely terrible. Actually, I still think it's pretty bad. I couldn't figure out a way to get Arya to watch the Ring Battles without making it boring...so it just turned out boring. :( But! I promise the next chapter will be much better! Lol, for me, chapter 9 seems so exciting compared to this one.

So does anyone think I characterized Mukuro properly? I was trying to make him sound grand and a bit pompous, but I can't tell if I got it right :(

Anyways! Read and review as always~

And thanks for sticking with my story :3


	9. Chapter 9: A New Beginning

Arya leaned against the pole, striking it weakly with her staff. The poison was already spreading through her body at an alarming rate, numbing her senses and weakening her. But she couldn't give up. There was no way she would let a petty poison kill her like this. She flicked the blade of the staff out and slashed at the tower. It made only a small scratch. Arya's hand went limp and she dropped the staff, no longer able to hold onto it. She slid to the floor helplessly, cursing.

* * *

><p>"<em>Principessa!" Bel called, running over to the unconscious girl. Making sure she was okay, he turned to the middle-schoolers and growled, "Leave my Principessa alone you stupid peasants. If you want to die, do it on your own, and don't get her involved!"<em>

_They could only stare in awe at the destruction the girl had caused with a mere scream. After confirming that the Sky Ring Battle would take place the next day at the school, the Varia left._

_Arya's eyes fluttered open to meet the gaze of a masked woman. She groaned, "What the hell do you want Cervello?"_

"_Arya Ishigeaki. You will be the replacement Cloud Guardian for Xanxus-sama's side" the pink haired woman intoned._

_Although her heart sank at the thought of having to fight against the middle-schoolers, she agreed with a grunt and turned over in her bed, nursing the headache she had woken up with._

* * *

><p>Arya blinked as the tower crashed down in front of her. She glanced up and saw Hibari take the ring and insert it into his own watch. She smiled and closed her eyes; he wouldn't help her. As expected, he left stating, "I owe you no favors herbivore."<p>

So Arya watched the battle through her watch, listening to all the remarks the spectators were making. Her eyelids drooped lower and lower, and in an attempt to keep herself awake, she started singing under her breath. She watched the sound waves dance around weakly, controlled by her voice. As she sang, thoughts of Squalo flooded her mind, and she rubbed at her eyes weakly, trying to stem the tears that threatened to spill over.

* * *

><p>"<em>Vooiiii! Woman, why the hell are you in the kitchen cooking?" Squalo shouted.<em>

"_Maybe, because I enjoy cooking, or because I want to get to know the people here better? Why do you care Squalo? It's not like I'm poisoning your food." Arya retorted._

"_If you have time to cook, why don't you spend it practicing your battle skills!"_

_She rolled her eyes, "Because I unlike a certain shark, have interests other than hacking at people with a sharp piece of metal."_

* * *

><p>"<em>Vooiiii put on the damn shoes and let's go woman!"<em>

"_I'm not wearing those fucking shoes and you can't force me Squalo!"_

_The swordsman growled and pounced, pinning the girl to the ground. He forced the stilettos onto her feet and then slung her onto his shoulder. She shrieked and flailed, hitting him repeatedly. He grabbed her hands to restrain her and walked out to meet the rest of the Varia. They made no comment even when Arya tried biting Squalo to get the man to let go of her. Such things were commonplace in the Varia mansion. _

* * *

><p>"<em>KILL IT KILL IT HURRY PLEASE!" Arya shrieked.<em>

_There was scuffling, followed by loud thwacks. "Squalo you missed it! Don't let it get away; it's going under the bed!"_

"_Vooiiii woman! Why the hell am I killing this fucking bug for you?"_

_Arya shut her eyes and pleaded with him, "Please, I'll do anything you want, just get rid of it!"_

_There was another thud and when the girl opened her eyes, the swordsman had one of her books in hand. A large stain was on the cover. She blanched, "You…used my book to kill it?"_

_He nonchalantly tossed it back on the bed, and she shrieked, "You stupid dolt! Why would you use one of my books to kill it! Do you enjoy reading books with spider guts on the front cover?"_

* * *

><p>There was a click as a ring was inserted into her watch. Cool relief spread through her body. She looked up to see Yamamoto staring at her anxiously. Immediately, she shut her eyes again. When he started to say something, she interrupted him, "Leave. I'm still weak from the poison. If you don't leave now, I'll be forced to fight you. Go help the others."<p>

Yamamoto smiled, although the smile didn't quite reach his eyes, "I just couldn't stand the thought of you dying Arya-san. I know it's hard for you to see me since I killed Squalo. Sorry."

Arya squeezed her eyes shut tightly, blocking out the image of Yamamoto's face from his Ring battle with Squalo. She didn't want to remember the way his face had twisted in such obvious pain. When she heard his footsteps fade away, she slowly got up. She needed to go check on the others.

Lussuria was fine, someone had given him the antidote and left him on his bed; Levi was knocked out from his battle with Gokudera, and Bel was roaming around somewhere on the school grounds. That just left Mammon that she had yet to check up on. She ran towards the gym where the Mist users would be. Only to stop at the sight in front of her. Gokudera and Yamamoto were facing off against Bel and Mammon who had Chrome at their mercy.

"Prince! Mammon! Let her go! She's dying!"

"Ushishishishi Principessa, we're getting the rings right now. Don't distract us."

"Prince! Stop! She can't do anything in that state anyways, so give her the antidote and let her go!"

"You damn knife bastard!" Gokudera shouted.

Yamamoto interrupted them with a deal. "First cure the girl's poison in exchange for the rain and cloud rings. Once you've done that, we will trust you and exchange the remaining rings for the girl."

Bel snickered, but accepted the deal. Yamamoto bent over and rolled the rings over, and then seemed to trip. At the last minute, he unraveled his sword and kicked it at the blonde. In a flash, he had his sword at Mammon's throat. Mammon chose that moment to reveal that the entire gym had been wrapped in one of his illusions. Multiple Mammons floated everywhere taunting the kids, while Bel had his knife at Chrome's throat. Arya, however, was distracted by something she saw in her watch screen. She choked a little, "Squalo?"

She continued watching the screen intently. "Shit! It's the same as that time!" Squalo growled in disbelief as the screen showed Xanxus's hands frozen.

Something in her mind clicked and she began putting pieces of what she knew together. Xanxus's scars that came out when he was enraged. His sudden anger at the Ninth and the things he was constantly saying. There was no way…

She got up and said firmly, "Prince. Let her go. There's no point."

Bel's face furrowed in confusion, "We have the upper hand Principessa. What are you talking about?"

When she didn't reply, Bel became furious, "Ushishishishi Arya, you're betraying us? For these peasants? The Prince isn't your number one anymore? Then that makes you my enemy!"

It was the first time he had called her anything other than Principessa. Arya only looked at him with an unreadable expression in her eyes. Suddenly from outside, there came a loud MAXIMUM CANNON and the gym was blown apart. Arya created a barrier just in time to shield herself from the debris that was flying at her. From the watch screen, she could hear Xanxus yelling about what the Ninth Boss had done to him and knew her suspicions were confirmed. And as Tsuna stepped up to freeze Xanxus completely, she could hear Squalo yelling furiously.

She got up and started running out of the remains of the gym towards where the Sky Battle was taking place. By the time she had got there, Xanxus was already completely frozen. Squalo was yelling to be let out and Arya could only stand there, indecision clouding her mind. And that was when Mammon showed up holding the rings. Arya cried out, "Mammon no!"

She ran to intercept him but was stopped by a barrier of knives. Bel. "Prince, get out of my way!"

Bel began throwing knives at her at top speeds. She batted them away with her staff and continued running towards Mammon. A sudden cut in her cheek made her freeze. She glanced at the web of wire that was wound all around her. She disconnected her staff and started whirling the nun chucks. A few of the wires were knocked down but she still couldn't move without taking off her leg. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she pushed against a wire to grab the knife at her thigh. She winced as the wire dug into her hand, but flipped the knife up skillfully and cut through a few more wires. Being able to move without cutting anything important was enough for her and she immediately swiped at the remaining wires. As soon as she did however, another wave of Bel's knives came flying towards her. She twirled the nun chucks, deflecting them, paying attention to where the wires were. But being distracted as she was, she didn't notice Bel creeping up to her and tackling her to the ground. He pinned her to the ground and pulled out another knife.

She twisted to throw him off but he was clinging to her firmly. Behind her, she could hear Mammon melting Xanxus. Bel chose that moment to stab a knife through her already bleeding hand to pin her to the ground. Focusing on the desire to protect herself, she allowed herself to scream. The force of the scream threw Bel off her and she yanked the knife out of her hand.

Arya whirled around to witness Xanxus sliding the Sky Ring on. She yelled, "Don't do it!"

Xanxus stopped and glared at her, "Oi trash. I don't need traitors and weaklings in my Vongola. You can get the fuck out."

She ignored the sadness seeping through her and tried to pry the ring away from him. He flung her away from and she collapsed on the ground. Xanxus put the ring on and started laughing in triumph. His victory was cut short when wounds started appearing all over his body. He yelled in pain, spitting out blood.

Tsuna stared in awe, "The ring has…rejected Xanxus's blood."

"Muu! What do you know? What do you mean the rings have rejected his blood?" Mammon demanded.

Spitting out blood all the while, Xanxus managed to rasp, "I certainly had it coming didn't I? That's right. That old fart and I have no blood relation whatsoever!"

Arya closed her eyes as the truth was finally revealed. What she had deduced was right after all. She started stumbling away from the scene, but was stopped by more of Bel's wires. "Did you know?" he asked.

Eyes shining with unshed tears, she faced him and asked, "Would it have made a difference even if I had? Squalo knew and chose to support Bo- Xanxus all the same. Go back Bel. I don't belong here anymore."

Bel stiffened when she didn't call him Prince, and casting one last look at the girl, he rushed back to stand at the side of his boss.

Xanxus roared, "Shut up! If I can't have it then no one can! Kill them! Kill them all!"

* * *

><p>Arya was leaving the school gates when there was a flash of purple. Suddenly she found herself tumbling through a tunnel. "Is this the ten year bazooka? What's it doing here?" she wondered.<p>

She opened her eyes to find a sword pointing at her throat. She gulped nervously and looked up. After leaving the Varia, what would she be doing in the next ten years? "…Squalo?"

The man stared at her in shock. He hadn't changed much except for his hair growing even longer. "Woman?" he said.

"Umm, the ten year bazooka landed on me as I was leaving the Ring Battles. Why am I here? I left the Varia."

To her surprise, the swordsman unclasped his sword letting it drop to the floor and grabbed her in a crushing hug. She stood deathly still, wondering what crazy parallel world she was in. "Umm…Squalo…what-?"

The swordsman reluctantly pulled away and then shouted, "VOOIIII! NOW THAT YOU'RE HERE, YOU BETTER BE PREPARED FOR SOME HELLISH TRAINING!"

"Squalo, I'm only going to be here for 5 minutes! You don't have to train everyone who comes your way!"

"Uhh long haired commander? It's time for the meeting. Can you stop molesting princess sempai?" a monotonous voice came from behind them.

Squalo stiffened, "Vooiiii! Fran, you bastard! Who was molesting who, huh?"

Then he turned back to Arya, saying, "Vooiiii woman. You'll be here for a lot longer than 5 minutes. You're a part of Sawada's plan. Come with me."

10 minutes later, Arya was in the Varia mansion, facing the ten year older Varia members, who all looked pretty much the same. There was just one big difference, "Mammon... that isn't Mammon is it?" she asked, indicating a green haired kid.

Lussuria was sobbing in a corner, "Oh my darling, I haven't heard your voice in such a long time! It's as wonderful as I remembered it!"

Squalo answered her question, "That's Fran. He's that fucking Mukuro's apprentice and we took him after Mammon died."

"Mammon…died" she repeated numbly.

He filled her in about the Non-Trinisette policy and the Millefiore family that had risen to power and was wiping out mafia families left and right. Then with narrowed eyes, he told her about Byakuran. After the information dump, Arya asked sharply, "So what does this have to do with me being taken to the future? Why didn't the future me continue the fight? I don't have a Vongola Ring or anything that would provide an advantage in battle."

"You heard Lussuria earlier. The future you" he hesitated, "lost a fight. Against a bastard named Genkishi. During the fight, you lost your voice, and with it, your power to manipulate sound waves."

"Ushishishishi Oi, Squalo. Be quiet. The Prince wants to hear Principessa's voice more."

"Squalo, in my time, I just left the Varia. How am I still here?"

"VOOIIII YOU REALLY THINK I'D JUST LET YOU WALK OFF LIKE THAT? I DRAGGED YOU BACK AND BEAT SOME SENSE INTO YOU!"

Arya's eye twitched, "Ah. I see."

She walked over to Fran and introduced herself, "I'm Arya Ishigeaki. It's nice to meet you Fran."

"Ah. Your last name is different from the future you. Maybe you haven't been pro-" 3 knives thudded into the boy's back, cutting him off.

Arya gasped and ran over, "Prince! What are you doing?"

Bel snickered, "Ushishishishi Principessa, don't worry. Froggy doesn't feel it."

She sighed, "That has nothing to do with it. Don't throw knives at your allies."

In the meantime, Fran had removed the knives and was bending and tossing them away casually. "Sempai, you should think about taking anger management classes sometime."

"Vooiiii can you two useless idiots shut up!" Squalo roared angrily.

Arya's eye twitched again. The future Squalo was even louder than the Squalo she knew. She wasn't sure if she could take the volume for very long.

"In this era, your future self perfected your ability. So in order for you to be able to battle the Millefiore, we'll have you master it again."

And that was the beginning of her hellish training. Before she could begin her training to master her own personal power, she had to learn about flames. And what better way to do that then have the Varia fight her one-on-one so that she could encounter each type of flame?

Lussuria had healed her wounds with his sun flame, Bel had half heartedly tossed a few storm flame covered knives her way, Levi demonstrated his ultimate attack to her using a few unfortunate subordinates as test subjects, and Fran had created a high level illusion for her to meander through for hours. But Squalo took the entire situation to different level, and chose to engage her in battle.

"Vooiiii you're slow! Are you even trying?" Squalo yelled, riding his box weapon, a rain flame covered shark.

The irony of it all was ridiculous, she thought, even as she was running for her life. The shark was vicious in and of itself but with Squalo riding on its back, she refused to get anywhere near it. "Vooiiii try using your own flame woman!"

The problem with that was that she had no idea how to make her flame appear. She thought about wanting to defeat Squalo and his shark for the sake of her sanity, but nothing happened. She glared at the Varia ring she had been given, getting more annoyed by the second. Too late she looked up to realize she had been trapped and that Squalo was getting closer and closer. He stopped inches away from her and jumped off his box weapon. "Vooiiii, how do you expect to fight if you can't light your flame?"

Arya looked at her ring, her face creased with worry.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

I finally updated! Yay! Was this chapter slightly better? :(

Anyways, it'll probably take me longer to update later chapters because I actually started on my new fanfiction (instead of just thinking about it).

Read and review~


	10. Chapter 10: Catching Up

It was a bad situation no matter how you looked at it. Arya had made limited progress with her flames, although her sound wave power had matured. And yet at this critical point, the enemy had decided to attack. Even worse, Arya was somewhere alone, meditating. If she got caught, there was no doubt in his mind that she would face death. This thought spurring him on, Squalo charged through the ranks of the enemy.

Meanwhile, Arya had in fact been noticed by the enemy. But she was not alone. Fran had started joining her in her meditating sessions. Due to a clever illusion the boy had quickly cast, they were safe for the time being, but Arya knew they would be discovered soon enough, which was why she was humming urgently under her breath. They couldn't move from their spot due to the enemy surrounding them.

An enemy spotted the two of them hiding in the bushes and the illusion disappeared. Arya kept Fran behind her and took out her staff. As soon as the enemy got too close, she gave a high pitched squeak causing her sound wave bombs to explode. The concept of the bombs was simple. They were just little bundles of sound waves packed closely together. With a little catalyst, they would explode and go haywire.

But the enemy kept coming. She kept a barrier wrapped firmly around Fran so that the boy wouldn't come to harm. The enemy took out their box weapons. The storm flame covered animals came flying at her. Driven by the desire to protect Fran, she stared at her ring, "Please. Just this once. _Work__damn__it_."

Responding to her firm command, the ring lit up in bright red flames. "So I'm a storm flame attribute. Well if memory serves me, that means disintegration which suits me just fine!"

She jammed the ring into the box she had been given. A large cheetah emerged. As the enemies' box animals came toward them, it roared. The animals started writhing in pain and she used sound waves to destroy them. The cheetah jumped at the enemy started running around them at high speeds, its fur lighting everything it touched on fire. The remaining enemy retreated hastily and the cheetah returned to Arya's side. She hesitantly reached forward to stroke its fur which was now no longer lit by storm flames. It purred and rubbed its head against her leg. "Ah, princess-sempai, you saved us. Good job."

She turned to face Fran and a dazzling smile appeared, one that Fran hadn't seen in a long time. The Arya he knew did her best to hide that she was devastated over the loss of her voice, but it was clear from her smiles that she was not the same. "Franny, I figured out the trick to flames. I just need to protect someone with all my power."

A loud roar signaled the approach of a certain swordsman, who immediately noticed the familiar cheetah. The cheetah gave an excited chirp and bounded over to the shark. The two reunited and cuddled happily for a moment, before Arya's disbelieving stare brought her box weapon back to her side, its ears flattened sheepishly. "Hmm, I need a name for you sweetheart. You're a boy, so how about Fluffy" she suggested jokingly.

The cheetah gave her a deadpan stare and she threw her head back and laughed, "Okay, okay that was bad. Then, how about Kou? It's Japanese for happiness and peace which is what we're fighting together for."

The large cat purred and then continued to play with his shark friend. Arya sweat dropped, "Were they this friendly when my future self was here?"

"Ah sempai, the long haired commander still hasn't told you yet?" Fran asked.

"Hmm, what do you mean Fran?"

Before the green haired boy could respond, knives thudded into his back once again. "Prince" she said exasperated, "How many times have I told you to stop doing that?"

The blonde man strode into view and grinned, "Ushishishishi Froggy is saying unnecessary things again. The Prince had to stop him."

Squalo voi-ed and asked, "What's the status report?"

"The enemies have been wiped out" Levi responded.

"Ah, when did the perverted thunder man get here?" Fran asked in a mock surprised voice.

* * *

><p>Despite the fact that Arya had gotten her flames to work effectively during the battle, during practice, she still struggled. Without the urgent desire to protect, she just couldn't summon those strong flames she had. As a result, Kou was much smaller during practices than during the real battle. The cheetah didn't let size affect it, demonstrating that he was just as strong in his mini form during his play dates with Alo, Squalo's shark box weapon. Perhaps mirroring their owner's relationships, Kou and Mink, Bel's mink box animal, got along as well. The two of them when not controlled tended to get carried away with their play fights and set their surroundings on fire. After Alo had to put out yet another fire, Squalo decided enough was enough.<p>

"Vooiiii stop letting your box weapons cause trouble!"

Arya, who was cuddling with the storm mink and cheetah, looked up briefly. "They don't mean it and Alo could use the exercise."

"Are you calling my box weapon fat?"

"Well, you don't exactly use him very often Squalo. I'm sure Alo appreciates the chance to stretch his fins."

"ARE YOU CALLING MY BOX WEAPON FAT?"

Mink snickered, his laughter oddly close to that of his master's. The ushishishishi set Squalo off, and he chased after the box animal, waving his sword. Alo nudged Arya reproachfully and she laughed, "Sorry Lolo. I couldn't resist teasing Sharky."

Nevertheless even without Kou at full power form, the two of them created a few combo attacks that involved Kou roaring and Arya using her sound wave powers to strengthen the attack. Arya found it incredibly ironic that the enemy used what they called "dark scythes" when her own weapon was a scythe covered with storm flames as well. As far as she was concerned, the weapons were a rip-off and copy-cat of hers.

All in all, Arya was doing well, although she was not at future Varia quality yet. So it was inevitable that the question came up. In the middle of dinner, she asked the question that had been on her mind for awhile, "Hey, Squalo, can you tell me about Genkishi?"

The room went silent. Evidently, it was still a hard topic to bring up. "Genkishi is a swordsman. He was supposed to be my hundredth win when I was fighting for the Sword Emperor title, but he pretended to lose. The bastard's a mist illusion user. Your future self would've beat him if he hadn't used his Hell Ring. You got trapped in a high level illusion and exhausted your voice getting out of it."

"As I am right now, how easily would he beat me?"

"3 seconds brat. I'm not gonna soften the truth for you. You'd get creamed in the state you're in."

Arya finished her dinner and left quietly, her mouth set in a grim line. Behind the mansion, she released Kou who was albeit a little larger than usual, but still not full grown. She lit her staff up with flames and started sparring with the cheetah. To say she was frustrated was the understatement of the year. Despite how hard she was trying and all the work and effort she had put into her training, she was still the weak link of the Varia. And she still couldn't beat that bastard Genkishi.

* * *

><p>"Vooiiii! We're heading into battle in a week! Everyone better be ready by then!"<p>

* * *

><p>Arya covered her scythe with her storm flames and deflected Bel's knives. They were batted to the side easily but his flames collided with hers, burning through them. She strengthened them and then moved in to counterattack. She was just about to slash at him when she froze. Sensing something, she twirled the blade side to face her and then drove the butt of the scythe back behind her. The flames coating it battled with Mink's defensive barrier flames before she jumped back. She lit her ring and jammed it into her box. Kou appeared by her side and leaped at Mink. The smaller animal darted back and forth avoiding the cheetah's attacks. Kou growled with annoyance and sped up, pinning the tiny box animal underneath its front paws.<p>

Meanwhile Arya was surrounded by laughing Bels. She watched them for any irregularity but the illusions were flawlessly made. They raised their arms in unison to throw knives at her and she spotted the Bel that was just a tad slower than the rest. Immediately she lunged at him and slashed with her blunt staff. The Bel flung his knives at her staff, driving away her flames before catching the stick in his hands. Keeping Kou out was using too much of her flames, and she could only manage to coat her weapon with a faint flicker of storm flames. Suddenly she heard a whine. Her head snapped around and she saw Kou, growing smaller and smaller by the second. Mink managed to fling the now small cheetah cub off and they started darting and snapping at each other.

Her poor baby was going to be mauled at this rate. Arya's resolve rose and her flames exploded, sending Bel flying back. She hummed, pinning him in place with sound waves and then rushed over to her box weapon. She twirled her staff and knocked Mink away. Her ring lit up and Kou began feeding off the flames, growing to his biggest size. The biggest he could get with her current resolve was about the size of a young teenage cheetah, but she couldn't muster her flames to get any stronger than this.

"Stooop. Princess-sempai. You figured out which the real Bel-sempai was. But you didn't realize that I cast an illusion on your box weapon."

Arya let the flames disappear from her staff, panting slightly at the exertion. Bel got up from where he had been knocked down, "Ushishishishi Principessa's flames sting a little now."

The girl didn't respond and instead started walking back to the castle, her bangs covering her face. Her flames had grown a little in power, but she was still no match for the other Varia members. What did they think about? What was their resolution? She had tried everything from wanting to beat Squalo, her rival, to wanting to destroy the Millefiore for killing Mammon. Nothing seemed to make her flames flare up. It was only when she thought about protecting someone that her flames got powerful. The rest of the time, they could barely be considered a threat.

She only had 5 days left until their attack on the enemy's mansion. Assuming her meditation position, she tried to find something that would allow her flames to become strong.

"Woman."

She ignored the voice. She had to focus. "Oi. Woman. VOI WOMAN LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Squalo finally shouted.

"WHAT?" she yelled, turning around to face him. The yell surprised both of them. She immediately turned her back to him and muttered, "I'm sorry Squalo. I'm just not in the mood to talk right now."

A hand on her shoulder forced her to turn around. "Voi. I can't tell you how to make your flames stronger, but your future self could do it, so you definitely can too. Otherwise you couldn't be my rival. Anyways, stop sitting here and do something!"

* * *

><p>She ran, feeling the breeze against her face. Her hair was falling out of its ponytail, allowing the wind to control it. As she ran, the frustration that had remained a lump in her stomach finally surfaced and she opened her mouth and screamed, not bothering to control the sound waves. The ground in front of her was destroyed and she ran through the ditch, her pace not slowing. She let scream after scream out, pouring out all her frustration, willing herself to become stronger. By the time she was done, the field she had been running on looked like it had been bombed. She ignored it all and sat down to catch her breath.<p>

As much as she hated to admit it, Squalo had been right. It didn't suit her to sit in one place. She was much more inclined to run around and hit things. She slipped her ring on and focused on the feeling of power she had had when running. In her mind's eye her ring lit up with bright red flames. She wanted to be strong even if it killed her. She opened her eyes; her ring was flaring brightly. She coated her staff with her flames and released Kou. He was medium-sized but the flames on her staff seemed to glow brighter.

That would do. It was time for a rematch with Bel and Fran. She couldn't let the two youngest members of the Varia show her up forever. With this mindset, she slowly overtook Fran, who's only real advantage was his illusions, Levi, who's attack she could avoid by riding on her cheetah, Bel, who she was about on par with. The last thing she had to do was get Squalo to fight her. Which she did the only way she knew how. By marching straight into his room without any warning and demanding a match. To her surprise, he wasn't there.

She was about to leave when a picture frame on his dresser caught her attention. "Squalo wasn't the type to keep pictures around" she thought curiously.

She walked over and picked it up to look at. And froze in shock. Squalo was smiling broadly at the camera. He had his arms around a girl who had hid her face in his shoulder. There was a shy smile on her face- she was interrupted when the picture was snatched abruptly out of her hands. She turned and found herself face to face with Squalo. Who was wearing only a towel around his waist.

"What did you see?" the man asked her, an urgent tone underlying his voice.

"Wha- Squalo, calm down. What the hell?"

"What did you see?" he insisted.

"You and some girl in a picture, okay? You don't have to hide your romantic life from me. I'm not going to do anything." She retorted, her heart sinking. Was Squalo really that opposed to her finding out more about him?

The swordsman sighed in relief and put the picture back on his dresser, facedown. She frowned and punched him in the arm, "What, you're not going to tell me who she is?"

He stiffened and then muttered reluctantly, "She's no one."

"You keep a picture of her by your bed, Squalo. Don't give me this bullshit. She's clearly someone special."

Before he could respond, she said, "And how long are you going to stand around half naked? Put on some clothes damn it!"

He jerked and quickly started pulling his uniform on. She turned her back to allow him some privacy and said, "I'll be waiting in the training grounds for you. Unless I can beat you, I'm not going on the invasion."

She left quickly, forcing down a combination of emotions. Resentment, hurt, and was that regret? Shit. She thought she had forced those emotions away a long time ago. True, back when they were in school, she had a crush on the swordsman, but she had shoved those emotions away. Squalo wasn't interested in a lover; he merely wanted someone he could spar with. When she thought he had died in the ring battles, that crush had risen again and she had barely pushed it back, forcing herself to not acknowledge something that would never be possible. Of course, she had thought Squalo was asexual; had never considered the possibility that he would look away from his swordsmanship long enough to fall in love.

She shook her head. She couldn't let this distract her; she had to become strong. Strong enough to finally leave these emotions behind her. She faced the man, determination masking her face. And began her attack.

* * *

><p>Arya panted, sweat dripping, her arm aching. The ten extra years Squalo had had made him incredibly powerful. She could barely keep up and she was already at her limit. Kou and Alo were fighting somewhere nearby, her voice was almost hoarse from all the attacks she was using. Her sound wave bombs were keeping the swordsman busy for the moment. But it was clear that he was playing around with the bombs, giving her time to recover.<p>

The idea that he was looking down on her filled her with rage and gave her enough energy to get up again. She stopped the sound wave bombs and waited for him to come to her. He was whipping his sword back and forth like a shark that was eager for its prey. She concentrated, letting her flames focus at a point on her staff and then whipped it at him. The focused storm flames broke through the rain flame barrier covering his sword. Triumphantly, she moved the scythe to a kill position at his neck. But before she could, she found the tip of his sword resting on hers.

She looked down; rain flames surrounded her, making her movements pitifully sluggish. She closed her eyes in frustration and muttered, "I admit defeat."

Squalo didn't move his sword away. Her eyes opened and she glared at him, shouting, "I lose, okay? Do you want me to dress up in a maid outfit again like before? Shit, Squalo. Can't you stop?"

He slowly lowered his sword but didn't move. Arya struggled to get away but he pinned her hands down. "What?" she asked confused.

His eyes were focused on her, and she looked down uncomfortably. "I can't tell you" he muttered.

"Huh?"

"I can't tell you who that girl was. But she's…I-"

Her eyes met his for a brief moment and he snapped, "Shit! Fuck this! I don't care anymore!" He grabbed her and crushed her mouth against his. Arya froze, her eyes still wide open. Her brain had shut down.

But he didn't stop kissing her. Her body on autopilot, she kissed back hesitantly. His moan however, brought her out of her daze. Quickly, she pushed him away and yelled, "Don't use me as your girlfriend's replacement Squalo!"

She turned and ran, Kou coming to her side. As she ran, the emotions she had stifled all those years ago welled up. Hands over her mouth, she continued running, blinded by unshed tears. When she was far away enough she screamed. All that came out was a feeble squawk. She curled up into a ball and sobbed.

Why did she have to like a bloodthirsty idiot who was in love with someone else? Why did she have to let her first kiss be taken away by him? She cried until she ran out of tears and then started hiccupping. Kou nudged her gently, growling. She buried her face in his fur and sat there numbly.

By the time she got back to the mansion, they were all gathered, eating dinner. Squalo was going through the details of the attack without a care in the world. She turned to go to her room, but he stopped her. "Voi. You're coming with us. You won't be a burden."

She smiled bitterly and went to take a seat, listening to her part in the fight. If anyone noticed that her eyes were red and her voice was hoarse, no one said a word. When they were done with their battle plans, she left without a word.

Fran drawled in his monotonous voice, "Strategy commander-sempai. What did you do to princess-sempai?"

Bel grinned, knives in hand, "Ushishishishi if you hurt her, I'll have to cut you to shreds."

Squalo threw a plate at the blonde and growled, "It's none of your fucking business, brat."

"It is actually. I only let you have the future Principessa. The one from the past doesn't give a damn about you yet."

Squalo buried his head in his arms and muttered to himself, "Shit."

"Sempaiii, when are you going to tell her that you proposed to the future her?"

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Sorry for not updating for so long! I got distracted with my other fic, plus it was Thanksgiving and I was dying and stuff lol. Hopefully this chapter is okay...I don't even know anymore. It's getting so hard to write this; I have no idea what I'm doing anymore :( And I feel like Arya is getting too angsty and depressed all the time, which I hate, but don't know how to change. :/

Anyways, read and review as always~

And happy late Thanksgiving!


	11. Chapter 11: We are Varia!

Arya was eating her breakfast quietly when one of the servants came in with an announcement, "Xanxus-sama, Don Cavallone has arrived."

She jumped up, "Dino has?"

Xanxus snorted, "Oi trash. Go take care of it."

Arya followed the servant eagerly, wanting to take a look at her brother ten years in the future. So she was surprised when a familiar figure glomped her. "Arya! I heard you had come from the past! I was so worried about you! Are you okay?" Dino asked.

She stared at the man. He had changed his hairstyle and his face looked a little more mature, but otherwise, her brother hadn't changed at all. She resumed hugging him, the familiar embrace comforting her and murmured, "The future is confusing, but I'm glad you haven't changed."

He looked down at her, concerned. Arya was never this docile unless something had happened. "Tell me what happened later, okay?" he said.

She nodded reluctantly, but her mind was still reeling from what had happened the day before and she wanted to ask someone about it. The two rejoined the rest of the Varia in the dining room where Dino chatted comfortably with the men in the room. The latter noticed that Arya was avoiding Squalo and cast the man a sharp glance, demanding an explanation later. The swordsman grunted and left angrily.

"Uhh, Dino?" Arya asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he smiled innocently.

"Could you try to not spill your food everywhere? You're making a mess."

The man looked with surprise at the mess in front of him and laughed sheepishly, "I wonder how that happened ahaha."

"Same old Dino" Arya thought grinning.

* * *

><p>"So, it's time to tell your brother what happened with Squalo."<p>

Arya sighed, "He kissed me the other day."

Dino raised an eyebrow, "So you're a couple now?"

"No! We're not! He has some other girl that he likes!" she said angrily.

Dino was confused. As far as he knew, the swordsman had never glanced at another woman in his life. "Er…why do you think that?" he asked hesitantly.

"He has a picture of her on his dresser, okay? He was hugging her and he looked so happy! And she was happy and then he kissed me! So what the fuck am I supposed to think?" she cried.

Dino ran a hand through his hand. If he was right, then this was all a horrible misunderstanding. The girl in that picture had to be Arya in the future. Which meant that she was jealous of herself?

When he didn't respond, Arya looked up dully, "See? He was just using me as a replacement. But I'm not angry about the kiss! I'm-" The older man stared at her.

"Okay, fine, I'm angry about the kiss. But that's not the part that bugs me the most! What I don't get is why he won't tell me who this girl is! Why does he think it's necessary to hide something like that from me?"

"Maybe it's something he can't tell you for your own good" Dino mumbled.

The girl looked up sharply, "Dino, you know something don't you?" At his silence, she burst out angrily, "You all know who that girl is and you won't tell me! Why? What happened to her?"

He sighed, "It's not a bad thing Arya. It's just in your best interest to not know at this time. You'll find out in your own time."

She scoffed, "Yeah, if he doesn't try to hide it from me then."

* * *

><p>"Squalo, you screwed up."<p>

"VOI CAVALLONE I DON'T NEED YOU TO TELL ME THAT!"

"But seriously Squalo. How could you be so careless? Arya thinks you're in love with some other girl and that you used her as a replacement."

Squalo growled, "Fuck, ten years ago, that woman was dense as hell. Who else could I possibly love besides her? Shit!"

"So? What are you going to do about it?"

"VOOIIII Do you think I wouldn't have done something already if I could? She's avoiding me and I don't know what to say to her anyways!"

Dino shook his head, "Maybe you should just tell her Squalo. You don't want this to be a distraction for her in battle, do you?"

"I can't tell her I'm in love with her! That's a job for the past me!"

"Fine" Dino sighed, "Just promise me one thing Squalo. If Arya is at the losing end of a battle, promise me you'll tell her."

"That woman better not lose any battles" Squalo growled, "I'll cut her up myself!"

At Dino's look, he rolled his eyes, "Voi! I promise! Happy?"

* * *

><p>"It's time for me to go. I have to go help Tsuna and the others. Stay safe and remember what I said, Arya! You too Squalo!"<p>

"Voii hurry up and get the fuck out of here Bucking Bronco!"

After Dino had left, Squalo turned to Arya and muttered, "Listen, I know you don't want to hear this from me, but I'm sorry. I can't tell you some things. Just… Bear with me for awhile."

She nodded, "We shouldn't let our personal problems get in the way of our job. I won't ask about that girl again so you don't have to worry."

Without waiting for a response, she left to go do some last minute training. She sparred with Kou, keeping an eye on him. She wanted to know her Box Weapon like the back of her hand before she went into battle with real enemies who were not averse to killing her. And if she by chance met Genkishi again, she would be prepared to take him down to the best of her abilities.

* * *

><p>Arya ran down the hallway where she knew a set of guards would be. She spotted a Millefiore White Spell uniform and ignited her flames. With a powerful sweep, they collapsed. She scanned the room for more enemies, found none and continued forward to the rendezvous point. In her transmitter, she could hear Bel laughing and the sound of people being electrocuted; no doubt Levi.<p>

She sped up her pace so that she wouldn't be late. The balcony was there. She could see Bel and Fran already there. Lussuria was also there; as was Levi who was carrying his own flag. She burst through the doors, "Am I late?"

"Darling! You made it!" Lussuria cooed, "Do you have any injuries for me to take care of?"

She gave him a look of protest, "I'm not that weak anymore Luss-nee-chan."

Squalo came a moment later and she went silent. Lussuria started complaining, "Aw man! I don't like this at all! A raid is boring; it doesn't go well with defense!"

"We can't expect any help from the remaining Vongola allied forces, can we? Maybe we shouldn't have sent the Bucking Bronco away." Bel giggled.

"What's with all your whining! These puny enemies! I can take them down easily!" Levi yelled, indignantly.

"Levi-san. In that case, why don't you go ahead and take them down yourself, please. I'll stay here and watch." Fran piped up impassively.

"What?" Levi was enraged, "But, this landscape means they can only attack from a few different positions! We're not in a disadvantage at all!"

"By the way, you used 'but' there all wrong, old lightning pervert." Fran said.

"Nuuoo? What did you just call me?"

Fran pretended not to hear him, stating, "Such a beautiful sky, isn't it?"

Arya hid a laugh and put her arms around the boy, whispering, "Let's not provoke him too much, okay?"

"Fiine" Fran relented.

"So, what do we do now, Commander Squalo?" Lussuria asked.

"Hm… Levi and Lussuria, standby in the castle and wait for my signal. If anything happens, you'll be backup. I'll guard the entrance on the east. Bel and Fran will cover the south. Take as many grunts as you like with you."

"Geh" Bel grimaced, "Do I have to look after Fran?"

"As if I like that. I don't like your type at all. Because I took over Mammon's place, I'm forced to wear this stupid hat. I didn't agree to wear this hat, you know." Fran drawled.

"Battle Commander Squalo. That Froggy might die during the mission…by my hand, that is." Bel hissed.

"Shut it, brat! Baby officers are supposed to look after newbies!" Squalo yelled.

"I'm no baby" Bel sniffed haughtily.

Arya sighed, "Prince, get along with Fran, okay? I know you can."

Meanwhile, Levi was signaling to get Bel's attention. He winked at the blonde and whispered, "It doesn't matter. Kill him. Just kill him!"

Bel turned his back to the older man and said, "No way. If I did, I'd end up teaming up with you. That's worse."

Levi was about to respond when Squalo darted forward and kneed him viciously in the stomach. The man hunched over gagging in pain. Lussuria giggled, "Ufu. We're really such a messy squad, physically and mentally."

"All right! This is an order! Now go!" Squalo yelled.

The two boys disappeared into the night and Arya fervently hoped they would come back safe and sound. "Don't forget your boxes! Have fun killing!" Lussuria called, his mother voice on.

Squalo turned and kicked the still gagging Levi, yelling, "How long are you going to keep that up!"

He and Arya took off into the trees, a few men following them. Arya kept her senses alert, looking for any sign of the enemy. Suddenly Squalo stopped. She copied him, landing on a branch just below him. A man fell from the trees. "What is it?" he snarled.

"Reporting…in…"

"Who attacked you?" he asked.

"It was Xanxus-sama…"

"What the hell?"

"He wanted to eat some meat, but…it wasn't…prepared well…"

"What? The best lamb out there was brought along!"

"Well…he…he wanted to eat…beef, I think" the man stuttered.

"We brought Japanese beef sirloin too! Go check the other containers!"

Another man fell from the trees and said, "Well…Commander. He wanted to eat beef fillet…"

"We brought that along too!"

A third man fell, "Well…he swept everything onto the floor with his hand and said... 'You expect me to eat this shit?'"

Arya watched the exchange, face-palming. She watched as Squalo's patience snapped and he roared, "THAT FUCKING DUMB BOSS! HE CHOSE THE FUCKING WORST TIME FOR THIS!"

The three men on the ground cowered in fear, but suddenly pointed, shouting, "Enemies!"

Arya hummed and cast a shield around them all. Squalo growled, "Wait. I'm talking to these insects at the moment" and then ramming his ring into his box weapon, he roared, "YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?"

Alo flew out of the box and attacked the approaching enemies viciously.

The men muttered among themselves about how strong he was. Arya couldn't help but smirk. Of course he was strong. This was Superbi Squalo, who had defeated Emperor Tyr. In the heat of battle, she had forgotten everything that had been troubling her mind, instead letting her battle instincts take over. Squalo snarled, "Of course. These level of troops can't defeat me. Our objective is to find the remaining Funeral Wreaths and ultimately, draw out Byakuran. It's nearly time to contact the Boss. Do it even if you're not willing to!"

The men paled but agreed nevertheless. "Vooiiii! About the meat. I'll find a solution to it! Tell that idiot boss!" Squalo suddenly yelled.

They rushed off quickly, and Squalo turned to scan the trees. "Now let's see…where will they attack from? The east or the south?" he thought.

He chose the east and took off in that direction, Arya following silently. They were moving away from the castle when Arya saw something out of the corner of her eye. "What's that?" she asked.

A henchman answered through the ear piece, "I believe it's three large airborne box weapons! They seem to be headed for the castle! I'll perform the special attack!"

"Are Bel and Fran okay?" Arya thought, worried.

Suddenly Squalo yelled, "Hold the special attack!"

A scream and static answered him and he hissed, "Tch, such a useless death!"

"Lussuria! Can you hear me?" he yelled urgently.

"Eh? What?" the man replied.

From the direction of the mansion, there was a loud explosion. At that moment, the enemy appeared before them and they no longer had any leeway to talk. Arya lit her flames and brought out Kou at his medium size. The cheetah roared, sending storm flame waves at the enemy. A quick burst of sound waves took care of the front line and Squalo yelled into his ear piece, "Lussuria, you still alive? What's going on at the castle?"

They were answered by only static. Overwhelmed by the possibility of Bel, Fran, and Lussuria all being defeated, Arya's rage grew. Her flames grew larger and Kou with them. He reached his biggest full grown size and roared again. This time, the enemy in his line of sight was wiped out immediately. Arya covered her scythe with storm flames and went to engage. "If I find a single hair on those boys' head harmed, I'm going to make sure you all fucking pay!" she yelled.

She carved a path of destruction through the enemy soldiers. Squalo fought at her side, their two box weapons fighting back to back. They had just about eliminated all the enemies when there was a bright red-orange explosion from the direction of the castle. Squalo smirked, "Fucking boss. It's been a long time since he fought seriously."

Arya breathed a small sigh of relief and then shouted, "Squalo get down!"

He dropped to the floor, pulling Alo back into his box. The adrenaline that had been bubbling up within her released itself in a long high pitched screech. The sound waves immediately took out everyone within a 5 meter radius. The enemy was finished. The lone stragglers ran for their lives and Arya collapsed bonelessly. That last attack had taken awhile to perfect and still wore her out immensely.

Suddenly a hologram of a man with white hair and three upside triangles tattooed under his left eye appeared. "Both the main battle in Italy and the Melone base in Japan. You have been most entertaining."

Squalo snarled. Arya stared at the grinning man. From how Squalo responded to him, it had to be Byakuran. "This pre-game battle had a very important purpose, you know. Like, you've shown me the true abilities of the Vongola's most powerful squad. And Shou-chan's desperate act of trying to lie to me."

Although she couldn't hear the other side of the conversation, Arya knew this Shou person must be incredibly shocked. "Yup. Busted. Indeed, you managed to carry out your plans very well, Shou-chan. I didn't expect you to join forces with the Vongola in this manner, but…I knew you would become my enemy sooner or later."

The man's eyes closed in amusement, "Because, Shou-chan, you have always looked at my actions and plans with disapproval. Since a long time ago."

A pause signaled the other person's response. "See? Well, whatever makes you happy. You'll soon see who's in the right and wrong. But, Shou-chan, you really like living on the edge, don't you? The Vongola Tenth Boss is still a greenhorn. Yet, you've cast your fate in with him. To tell you the truth, it's all too easy for me to continue the battle without a break, and crush the Vongola completely. But, I've been having so much fun so far. Plus, being betrayed by my most trusted aide…had to have some effect on my pride as a leader, right? That's why, I thought it's about time we had a proper match. An official trial of strength…between the Vongola Family under Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun's command, and my Millefiore family."

Arya frowned. This man had the most annoying voice. "Of course, the Trinisette will be the stake. The time is just right too. A farewell party to bid Shou-chan and this old world goodbye, and a ceremony to celebrate the new world."

After that, Arya could hear no more of the conversation. They started making their way back to the base while Squalo messed with his ear piece. A few minutes later, he roared, "VOOIIII!"

The sound rang through her head and she clutched her head, moaning, "Ugh, Squalo, please, not so loud. Shit."

"It's a transmission request from the Varia, but, I'm afraid the Millefiore might be bugging this! A man's voice came through the ear piece.

"It's fine, just let me through, damn it!" Squalo yelled.

"He's too scary, so just connect him! Just be mindful of the volume on the headphones!" a familiar voice said. Arya grinned. That terrified high pitched shriek. Tsuna!

"YOU LITTLE BASTARDS! ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?" Squalo roared.

"SQUALO HOLY FUCK PLEASE STOP BEING SO LOUD I'M DYING HERE!" Arya shrieked.

"Squalo! Arya-san!" a joyous voice exclaimed. Yamamoto was fine too!

"You're too damn loud! The both of you!" an angry voice grumbled. Gokudera as well.

"Listen up! At this time, we, as the Vongola, are together in this! So as for you little brats…"

A rock smacked him in the back of the head and he made an undignified "galfk" noise before turning to face Xanxus, snarling, "You asshole!"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi" Xanxus growled.

"This voice is…!" Tsuna gasped.

"Have you become a little less immature yet?"

Although it was silent on the other end, Arya could feel Tsuna's surprise, as well as fear. After all, their last encounter with the man had led to almost both of their deaths.

"Show me that the Vongola in ten days time will be the strongest!" Xanxus continued, before he ended the transmission.

Squalo was being restrained by Lussuria, "Squalo! Please calm down, I said!"

"Let go! I wasn't done yet!" he yelled.

Bel snickered on the side and Fran mumbled, "Ah, ah…he broke the wireless already."

Arya gave a big sigh of relief and ran to both of them. "I keep forgetting that you guys are really strong and ten years older. But I'm glad you're safe."

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, I've been busy with school and other stuff. Sorry that this chapter isn't anything new since it's basically just that chapter of the manga repeated verbatim :D (I couldn't leave this out, I love this chapter lol). But I promise I'll be updating another chapter in a few minutes lol so look forward to that :D

As always, please read and review~ (You have no idea how encouraged I get by reviews)


	12. Chapter 12: The Tutors

"VOOIIII DON'T FUCKING SCREW ANYTHING UP WHEN I'M GONE!" Squalo roared.

"Ushishishishi no one's gonna miss you, but I don't want Principessa going with you."

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT YOU WANT!"

Arya sighed, "Prince, I'll be fine and I'll see you soon enough. Just promise you'll stay safe and out of trouble while I'm gone."

The blonde seemed to freeze for a moment before he replied half heartedly, "That's what the future you said before you left and met Genkishi."

Arya's eyes widened, "If I meet him again, I'll make sure to beat him properly this time." She pulled the boy into a hug and softly stroked his hair until he relaxed.

"Sempai, the fake prince is worried that the long haired commander might molest you when you're alone."

The girl grinned and hugged Fran, "If he tries anything, I'll personally make sure he won't be able to pee properly much less hope for children."

She didn't know it, but she had a bloodthirsty look on her face, causing the men around her to shudder. Levi seemed to be especially uncomfortable about the comment, but Arya chose not to think about the implications of that too much.

Xanxus growled, "Oi trash, hurry up and get out of here."

She smiled and saluted, "Sir yes boss sir!"

With one last hug, she grabbed Squalo and ran off; calling behind her shoulder, "Don't miss me too much! Stay safe!"

* * *

><p>Travelling with Squalo was exhausting. The man took no breaks, choosing to run in silence. Although she was fit, it was still difficult for Arya to keep up with the older, stronger man. After the first day of running, Arya had collapsed at the chosen camping spot. Wearily, she made a fire and then pulled out her sleeping bag. She was about to curl up and die when Squalo grunted, "Eat something or you'll pass out tomorrow."<p>

She moaned, "Squalo, I might pass out tomorrow anyway. I don't think eating makes a big difference." Nevertheless, she pulled out her rations and started chewing on the beef jerky.

"You know, you're going to train Yamamoto-kun, but why did you have to drag me along?"

"Who said I was going to train that brat?"

She stared at him deadpan, "Then why the hell are we going to Japan?"

He snarled, "That fucking kid lost; I'm going to go teach him a lesson!"

She smiled, "You like him, don't you? Funny, I always knew he'd make a natural assassin."

The swordsman snorted, "That kid? He has potential, but he's too soft."

"I'm glad you like him. He was always my favorite out of Tsuna's guardians. If I weren't an assassin and I wasn't way older than him, I would totally have fallen in love with him I think."

It wasn't a lie; there were many qualities of Yamamoto Takeshi that reminded her of Squalo. If she hadn't been a part of the Varia, hadn't met Squalo, hadn't developed feelings for him, she most likely would've fallen for Yamamoto.

"Oi, about before. I don't…I won't…" Squalo mumbled.

"Spit it out before I fall asleep Squalo" she replied.

"Look! I'm sorry okay? For what I did before!"

"Yeah, I know you are" she nodded, surprising both him and herself. Did this mean she had already unknowingly forgiven him? And how could she do that if she didn't make the conscious decision to do so? Well, whatever. After saying it, she felt like she had lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.

"Dino said I would find out in my own time who you liked so I'll be patient and wait until then."

When he didn't answer immediately, her eyes narrowed, "I will, won't I?"

"It's something you need to hear from him so yeah, you will."

She rolled her eyes and collapsed backwards on her sleeping bag, "For vicious assassins, we sure have a lot of teenage drama."

Without another word, she curled up in her sleeping bag and went to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Voii hurry up woman! We're almost there!"<p>

"Almost…where…exactly…" Arya panted.

A second later, she stopped. In front of her was the wide ocean. Squalo had Alo by his side and looked at her, "What're you waiting for? Get out your box weapon and let's go!"

She could only gape at him, "We're traveling by box weapon across the ocean?"

"How else did you think we would get there?" he snorted.

Pushing aside her exhaustion, she focused on how she would beat Squalo to death after this and shoved her ring into her box. Kou sprang out, thankfully in a relatively large form. She stroked the large cat and clambered on top. Immediately, the two box weapons took off and started flying.

"Squalo! Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Arya yelled.

The man didn't respond. He was surfing the waves on Alo, a grin on his face, his hair flying behind him. He looked like he belonged in the ocean with his marine friends. Meanwhile, Kou was flying much higher, refusing to touch the waves.

Wait, were those storm clouds in the distance? Shit.

* * *

><p>"VOOIIII HANG ON!" Squalo roared as the storm hit.<p>

Arya clutched onto Kou for dear life. The cheetah chirped in reassurance and she stroked his head. Alo forced his way through the violent waves smoothly. Kou followed behind, fur soaked. Both were getting tired. "SQUALO THIS IS INSANE! WE NEED TO FIND A BOAT OR SOMETHING! WE'RE GOING TO DIE AT THIS RATE! ALO AND KOU CAN'T KEEP THIS UP!"

The swordsman knew she was right, but boats didn't just come along conveniently, especially in a storm like this. "Can you use your sound waves to find a ship?" he yelled.

Arya closed her eyes and focused on the sound waves crashing around her. She tuned out the waves. Their sound waves were actually soothing if she put some effort into it. There was an unfamiliar sound coming from somewhere in front of them, but she couldn't make out what it was. It could be a whale for all she knew. She tried to focus, but it was no good. The sound waves were too hazy. Exhausted from concentrating, she yelled back, "I think there's something in front of us, but I can't be sure of what it is!"

He urged Alo forward, praying that it was a ship. He could see Arya out of the corner of his eye; she was soaked and looked like she'd fall off Kou at any moment. Her box weapon wasn't much better. He had shrank due to his master's exhaustion and looked like a drowned cat.

If the girl got hurt, Yamamoto Takeshi better be prepared.

Alo seemed to know what he was thinking because the shark shook itself and looked at his master. Squalo shouted, "Woman, put away your box weapon and get over here!"

Arya shook her head weakly, "Alo can't take the extra burden!"

Squalo growled, leaned over and yanked the girl away from her box weapon. Immediately Kou disappeared back into his box, and he put the girl's arms around his waist, making sure that she was hanging on tightly. Looking ahead, he saw the flash of lights and praised the heavens. The woman had been right.

They crashed into the boat, and Alo showed his teeth threateningly. The men on the boat screamed, but Squalo stood wearily leaning against the side of the boat and grunted, "This ship is going to Japan right? Let me hitch a ride."

"Where…where did you come from?"

Squalo growled, "Yamamoto Takeshi…that damn brat."

"HOW THE FUCK COULD HE LOSE?" he suddenly roared.

The noise caused the limp girl in his arms to stir. She stood up, exhaustion clear on her face and saw the sailors. She smiled, "Could you guys perhaps take us to Japan? Thanks."

She fell in a dead faint and the men lunged to catch her.

"Speaking of which, how did Byakuran invade the network?" Dino asked.

"Your security is a joke! You damn amateurs!" Squalo growled.

"Ah"

"You are…"

"Squalo!"

Arya popped out from where she was standing behind the swordsman and waved sheepishly, "I came along too."

Squalo ignored them all, walked over to Dino and handed him a large tuna he had caught from the ocean, "A gift."

"Thanks."

"You're pretty slow Squalo. Your student can't wait anymore." Dino smiled.

"Eh? Student…"

Don't tell me…"

"My training tutor is…" Yamamoto started to say.

Before he could say anymore, Squalo punched him viciously in the face before kneeing him in the gut. He then picked up the now unconscious boy and walked out of the room.

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna yelled, worried.

Arya stopped him, "It's okay Tsuna. Squalo knows what he's doing. And Yamamoto-kun is lucky anyway. Squalo wanted to do much worse originally. He must've really been exhausted from our traveling."

"But…" Tsuna protested.

"Leave this to Squalo. He understands Yamamoto more than we do." Dino said solemnly, before turning to face his sister, "Arya, what are you doing here?"

She snorted, "I'm not exactly sure. Squalo dragged me along so I had no choice but to come. Is there anyone else that needs help with their training?"

Dino thought carefully and then smiled, "Well, there is someone who would like to spar with you again."

The girl groaned, "No, please. Anyone but him. I'm still tired from flying across the damn ocean. Please not-"

"Ehh? Arya-san, you flew across the ocean? Is that even possible?" Tsuna shrieked.

The girl laughed, "We rode on our box weapons and then hitched a ride halfway cause there was a storm, so I guess technically we didn't fly ourselves"

Suddenly Tsuna noticed something, "Eh wait, Arya-san, you're the Arya-san from the past?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I got brought here because the future me lost something important. Anyways, isn't it time for you to lose that honorific? Just call me Arya."

"Oi, woman. What are you doing back here now? Weren't you our enemy?" Gokudera growled.

Arya replied hesitantly, "I'm not sure where I stand in the past at the moment or where I'll be going, but here in the future, you can count on me being your ally no matter what."

"Just try hurting Juudaime and I'll blow you to pieces" he said.

Arya ignored him in favor of going to Chrome and saying, "I don't think we got a chance to formally introduce ourselves. I'm Arya Ishigeaki. It's nice to meet you, Chrome Dokuro."

The girl blushed and replied, "You must be the person Mukuro-sama helped. He said you were interesting."

Suddenly Arya remembered that bizarre nightmare she had had after Squalo's death. "Ah…you're right…I met him once. I'd forgotten." Inwardly she cursed; owing Mukuro couldn't be a good thing.

She took a step back and then after a look from Dino, she sighed, "Well, it was good seeing everyone again. Focus on your training and the battle ahead. I'll see you then."

"Eh? Arya-sa- uh, Arya. Where are you going?" Tsuna asked.

She grimaced, "My brother wants me to go help train a demon."

With a wave of her hand and a "wish me luck", she left as suddenly as she had shown up.

* * *

><p>"Superbi-san. It's good to see you again. Allow me to take you to Kyou-san." The man with the Elvis styled hair said solemnly.<p>

She sputtered, "Uh…no, my last name is Ishigeaki."

The man froze and his eyes widened, "I apologize! I forgot that you were not…"

Her eyes narrowed, "Kusakabe-san was it? Why would you ever refer to me by Squalo's last name?"

He was sweating nervously as he tried to come up with an excuse, but she froze him with a look and said, "The truth please."

He sighed, "I've already said too much. Please think nothing of it."

Arya's mind was whirling. If her last name was Superbi, then that meant that she and Squalo were married? Was that possible? So that was what Fran had been trying to tell her all this time, and no wonder Bel had stopped him. And Squalo losing his control was also understood. But did that mean that the girl in the picture was her? She had been jealous of herself? She was incredibly confused.

Seeing the dazed look on her face, Kusakabe said briskly, "Come, I'll take you to Kyou-san. He has been expecting you."

She followed him silently, pushing away thoughts of Squalo. She would be killed if she fought the bloodthirsty boy while distracted. She could question Squalo later. When she arrived on the roof of Namimori High, she was greeted with a tonfa thrown at her face. She deftly caught the weapon and complained, "Can't you treat your tutor a little better?

The prefect was standing in a position that clearly signaled he was ready for a battle, holding his remaining tonfa. Arya shook her head at him, "Nope, we're not fighting yet Kyouya. I need to know how much you know. Have you fought with the rings and boxes yet?"

"Hn, you'll fight me herbivore." The boy responded carelessly before charging forward.

She darted away, keeping him away from her and continued questioning him, "I'll assume that's a yes. Do you know how to increase the amount of flames?"

"The Bucking Bronco said it was irritation" Hibari snarled as he slashed at her with his tonfas.

She ducked and asked, "What's your box weapon, if you don't mind me asking?"

"All these questions are unnecessary. I'll bite you to death." Hibari said as he continued to attack her.

Arya lit up her ring and inserted it into her box weapon. Kou stood by her side protectively, growling at Hibari. "Kyouya, it's only polite if you let me see your box weapon as well. And besides," she smirked, "You wouldn't want to get _creamed_ in a fight against me just because you refused to show me right?"

The provocation worked and the boy's ring lit up with strong purple flames which he shoved into his box weapon. He held up the small hedgehog that had come out from the box for the girl to examine. Arya stretched out a finger to pet the hedgehog's head, chuckling at the content expression on its face. "He's cute, what's his name?"

"Roll."

"Roll, that's unexpectedly cute of you Kyouya" she laughed and held her hands up when the boy growled at her. Kou approached the hedgehog and chirped. The hedgehog looked at its master who gave a barely perceptible nod. Immediately it floated over to rest on the cheetah's head.

Arya leant down to cuddle with the two box animals, "We'll fight tomorrow Kyouya. Today I want you to spend some time with Roll. Get to know him inside and out so that you'll know him like you know Namimori."

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

As promised, I updated my next chapter! I hope this will be enough to tide everyone over until my next update. :)

Anyways, read and review please~


	13. Chapter 13: Her Resolution

_"Ishigeaki-san, please do not confront Superbi-san about the mistake I made. It could change your future."_

Arya sighed, "Guess I'll just leave it alone then. I got most of the answers I needed anyways. I'll get the rest of them when I go back to my time."

* * *

><p>From inside the tent, Arya listened to the rules of the Choice battle that would occur. The rules were simple enough, whichever side eliminated the opposition's target first won, but it would be much more difficult due to the arena's size. Having a good strategist would come in handy. Squalo was fuming silently by her side and she placed a hand on his arm, attempting to calm him down. She murmured, "They'll find you if you keep this up."<p>

Outside, a voice said, "I feel obliged to congratulate the individual in question for his impressive ability to conceal 99.99% of his bloodthirsty presence, but faint though it may be, I can still sense the remaining 0.001%. There is somebody hidden in that base unit of yours."

Arya stiffened and Squalo growled, before exiting the tent, "Tch…"

"Squalo!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"The heck! So you showed up!" Yamamoto laughed.

"Don't get me wrong, ya piece of trash! I just snuck in in the hopes of causing a bit of madness and mayhem."

Arya walked out behind him and Kikyo raised an eyebrow, "Hahan, I didn't notice another person in the tent."

The girl glared at the turquoise-haired man, instantly taking a dislike to his arrogant manner, "Yeah, yeah, I'm invisible and you're a bastard. Are we done with the introductions?"

"Arya!" Yamamoto said, "Are you here to give us support too?"

She flashed him a smile, "Actually, I came so I could watch my student pound the shit out of these Funeral Wreathes, but turns out he's not a participant."

The Cervello interrupted them, "The match will begin in three minutes' time. Please make sure you are ready by this time."

Arya waved to the middle schoolers and then followed one of the Cervello to the viewer's section. Precisely three minutes later, the battle began.

* * *

><p>The Vongola side started by sending out their three fighters on motorcycles. Kyoko and Haru were chattering to each other in surprise. Dino was a little more technical, conversing with Giannini about the properties of the bike. Arya, herself, was rather impressed. She made a mental note to herself to ask Yamamoto to teach her how to ride when they got back to their time. Squalo and Hibari were silent, watching with impassive faces.<p>

The first battle was between Tsuna and the Funeral Wreath of Mist, Torikabuto. The battle was impressive and they could all see just how much Tsuna had powered up. His box weapon, Natsu, the mini Sky Lion, was impressive as well.

The camera view switched to Yamamoto who was cautiously peering around a corner of a building. One of the decoys was struck by an invisible force and Yamamoto charged forward, drawing his sword. However, the decoy grew vines that propagated at an alarming speed. They grabbed a hold of his leg and sent his sword flying. When the vines stopped growing, a figure emerged, saying, "Time for me to finish you off."

"You're that 'Saru'" Yamamoto said.

"You have made one narrow escape from death, only to be laid to rest by me once more. Yamamoto Takeshi." The man said.

"Once more…?" Confusion marred the boy's face.

The man began to disappear into the mist, revealing another figure, "Perhaps this will jog your memory."

The man that appeared was wearing a suit of strong armor, a helmet with horns crowning his head. He was holding a sword that screamed evil. The look on Yamamoto's face spoke volumes, "Genkishi!"

Arya froze in shock. This was Genkishi? This was the man that had taken down the future her? She felt Squalo stiffen beside her.

"You are already aware of the gap between our strengths. Truly, you are an unlucky one… this is farewell." He raised his sword above his head, dark energy gathering at the tip.

He sent the attack at the boy viciously. Meanwhile Squalo was smirking, "It's you who's the unlucky one, Genkishi."

The smoke cleared revealing Yamamoto standing, holding two swords, a dog by his side holding another in its mouth. He laughed, "Heheh, I've been waiting for the day we could have our rematch."

"So that sword wielding dog is your Vongola box?" Genkishi asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. He's an Akita Inu. Name of Jirou. He's looking after my three short blades for me." Yamamoto laughed as the dog barked and licked his face happily.

Arya joined Kyoko and Haru in cooing about the adorable box weapon. Squalo twitched, resisting the urge to face-palm. "That stupid brat…quit screwing around and get to the point!"

"But the truth is, I'm just like you" Yamamoto continued, his voice getting serious, "I actually use four swords." He grinned and said dopily, "So would you mind if I just go get my fourth one? I kinda dropped it in the confusion back there."

"It would certainly appear that you have grown somewhat, but if you think you've won this fight because you survived a single attack…then think again." Genkishi's eyes glowed and Reborn said, "He's firing invisible illusionary sea slug missiles."

Yamamoto twirled one of the short swords in his hands, his ring lit up, and he blasted himself backwards. He grabbed his Shigure Kintoki and flipped through the air, landing safely. He then used the short swords that were fueled by his flames to propel himself forward, and his sword met Genkishi's loudly.

Genkishi seemed shocked, but recovered immediately and began creating a dome of vines around the boy, before disappearing. Inside the dome, Yamamoto began dodging invisible attacks, darting here and there. "Looks like not only has Yamamoto gained proficiency in airborne combat, he's also gained the ability to use his ring's flames to sense exactly where the illusionary sea-slugs are." Reborn said, approvingly.

"Still, he can't possibly attack an opponent he can't see!" Bianchi said, her face creased with worry.

Squalo just smirked smugly. Yamamoto burst through the smoke from yet another attack and threw two of his short swords. They pinned Genkishi's horns and the man was visible once more. He slashed and sent Genkishi flying out of his illusionary dome. The shock and confusion on Genkishi's face was enough for Yamamoto to explain, "Heheh, looks like my strategy worked. You were so distracted by Jirou that you didn't think to try looking up."

The camera panned up and there flying in circles serenely was a sparrow. "He's been covering that giant tree your illusionary sea-slugs created with rain-element flames. And of course, the specialty of the rain element is calm. Thanks to the calming effects of the rain element, your sea-slugs' movements have been getting duller and slower, but since your own speed hasn't changed, you're failing to synchronize with them properly."

Genkishi gritted his teeth angrily. "Oh, and by the way, this little guy's Kojirou" Yamamoto grinned, as the sparrow landed on his finger.

Arya smiled at Squalo and nudged him playfully, "You taught that him well Sharky!"

The swordsman scoffed, "Of course. Anything less and I would've gutted him myself."

"The box weapons themselves are certainly impressive, but Yamamoto's growth that's allowing hi to use them to this level is outrageous." Dino said.

"Yeah. There's a vigor about him that I've never seen before, and it's driving his swordplay to a completely different level of strength. What on earth brought this on?" Reborn wondered.

"Devotion to the blade." Squalo growled. "That piece of trash has always had what it takes to become a master swordsman. But there was just one thing holding him back. HE was never fully embracing the sword."

He related how he had made Yamamoto focus solely on his swordsmanship and not on baseball. "I don't know about his motivations and screwed up time restrictions, but that decision to devote himself utterly to the blade has made him a true swordsman."

Meanwhile on the screen, Yamamoto had brought out his four swords and was ready to take an offensive stance. Genkishi scowled, "Very well, I will recognize you as a swordsman worthy of destroying with my full power. But you may regret it." His hell ring started glowing and he said, "I will no longer show any mercy!"

The man merged with the ring and became a skeleton in armor. However, something was clearly wrong with the man. He began to spout nonsense. "Could it be possible that he's losing his mind from using the Hell Ring?" Arya thought to herself.

Genkishi raised his hand and sent a barrage of sword strikes and illusionary missiles at Yamamoto. Calmly, the boy used his short swords to propel him agilely, avoiding the attacks. Squalo smirked, "Gofuu Juuu is a supreme evasive technique based upon synchronizing with one's opponent's breathing. And with the propulsion the Vongola Box provides on top of that, like hell that's gonna hit him."

She glanced at the swordsman, "You taught him that?"

He grunted and she scowled, "You've never used that move on me when we fight."

He rolled his eyes, "Your breathing's all over the place. Hell if I'm gonna try synchronizing with that."

She pouted but resumed watching the battle. Genkishi seemed to be increasingly enraged and separated into ten of him, using the same attack. The attack was unavoidable and Squalo's eyes narrowed in on his face. Yamamoto whispered, "Shigure Souen Ryuu. Aggregate Art."

The boy charged straight for the center of the mass of attacks and to their astonishment, they froze in midair. Completely confused, Basil had to listen to Dino's explanation before he could understand. "They're not frozen. No, if you look closely, they're actually just moving incredibly slowly."

Reborn explained further, "I see. He's assaulting all the sword strikes and illusions with his rain flames of calm and slowing them to the point where they're barely even moving."

"But no matter how incredible his box weapon is, surely it can't hit everything…?" Giannini exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Hibari asked from behind them, "That's Yamamoto Takeshi."

Genkishi charged into his attacks and started shoving them aside, looking for the boy who had disappeared. "Ngh, my own attacks are getting in my way! Separated like this, I don't have enough power!" His ten forms merged together once more and he roared, "Where are you?"

"Certainly, I lost to you once. But that was due to my own immaturity. The Shigure Souen Ryuu that my father passed on to me is always" Yamamoto said softly, flying straight at Genkishi, "perfect and flawless!"

Due to Genkishi being slowed by the rain flames that had wrapped around his legs, Yamamoto struck him powerfully, sending the illusionist and swordsman tumbling to the ground.

Everyone in the viewer's box cheered for Yamamoto's victory. But from the screen, Genkishi gasped, "Why…first the Vongola boy, now you…why do you not strike the killing blow…?"

Yamamoto turned to face him, "Well, we're not killers, that's all."

That should've ended it, but Genkishi seemed to be talking to a Funeral Wreath. Suddenly flowers sprouted from his body. Flowers with the Cloud flame. And then Kikyo's voice was being projected. "This was all Byakuran-sama's idea. He gave me the order as soon as you took up your role as 'Saru'."

Genkishi seemed to be unable to accept this and he yelled desperately, "Do not joke around with me! Byakuran-sama would never abandon me like this!"

The flowers began blooming quickly all over his body, tearing him up from the inside. Bianchi led the two innocent girls away, under the pretense of getting Reborn something to drink. Arya kept her eyes trained on the screen. Although part of her pitied the man, the other part was regretting that she hadn't had a chance to fight him. And once that thought had entered her mind coherently, she couldn't get it out.

Even as Genkishi screamed to Byakuran, the flowers were spreading rapidly. And with a last shout, he exploded. The Vongola side stared in shock. "This is the true nature of the Millefiore Family we are fighting, of Byakuran-san." Shouichi said grimly.

"Let's beat him." A furious voice said, "I don't really know about saving the world or about the Trinisette or anything like that. But what I can see is that Byakuran is putting everyone through terrible pain!" Tsuna exclaimed.

With renewed determination, they continued their battle. The rest of it was all a blur to Arya though. She couldn't stop thinking about Genkishi. How it would feel to take her revenge by defeating him herself. To make sure that the future her would still have her voice, would still be able to smile happily with her family. Before she knew it, someone had punched her arm. She winced and snapped, "What?"

Squalo stared at her in disbelief, "The brats just fucking lost. Shit's about to hit the ceiling so try paying attention?"

Eyes widening in shock, she followed him out of the building. As she approached the arguing Byakuran and Shouichi, a girl appeared before them. She listened to the conversation silently, her fury with Byakuran rising steadily with every word that was spoken. When the girl, Yuni, took out a handful of pacifiers, Arya started inching towards her. The pacifiers started glowing and Byakuran's eyes took on a different light. "I really do need you. Now, let's make up and be friends." He said, taking a step forward.

"Stop" Yuni said, "I can't let you possess our hearts anymore."

The white haired man smiled and said, "What the hell are you saying? I will follow you to the ends of the Earth until I have those."

He started walking towards the girl who shrank back in fear, and Arya darted forward before she even knew what she was doing. She held an arm in front of Yuni protectively and said, "Sorry Byakuran, but it's impolite to scare a lady."

The man didn't even look at her and with a sweep of his hand sent her flying into a building. She landed with a sickening crack against the lightning flame hardened building. "VOOIIII WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" Squalo roared, running over to the girl who was already standing up shakily.

"Good thing I figured something like that would happen and had my barrier up, otherwise that crack would've been my bones and not the sound waves" she muttered.

Byakuran was getting closer to Yuni when a shot rang out. It grazed the man's clothing, and he stared at the searing cloth. Reborn was angrier than anyone had ever seen him, "I don't care who the fuck you are, or what circumstances you're in. Don't push your luck, Byakuran."

"If you lay one finger on the Arcobaleno boss, I'm not gonna sit here and watch." He growled, his fedora covering his eyes.

Meanwhile Tsuna was in a dilemma, panic clearly evident on his face. Before he could do anything, however, Kikyo had moved forward, stating calmly, "Byakuran-sama, please be assured Yuni-chan will be escorted back here."

Swifter than the eye could follow, the man dashed forward, sending a series of attacks at the group. But when the smoke cleared, Squalo was standing, sword at the ready, a bloodthirsty grin on his face. "Vooiiii I'll be your opponent. I've been wanting to let loose for the longest time now."

Hibari was poking him with his tonfa, growling, "You're in my way."

They were about to attack but Byakuran stopped them and continued debating with Yuni. Finally, it came down to the man threatening the Black Spell for Yuni's return. Tsuna panicked again, worried about the lives of Yuni's family. But he looked at her eyes and saw the resolution in them. He took two steps forward and grabbed Yuni's arm. "Come with us" he said. He turned to the rest of his family and said, "Everybody! Let's protect her!"

And just like that the guardians' hearts and resolves were united as one. Kikyo frowned and said, "Byakuran-sama, permission to attack in order to get Yuni-sama back."

"Permission granted."

At that moment, two things happened. Squalo's box weapon burst forth and they charged at the long turquoise hair colored man. At the same time, an explosion came from near Arya was. A man had broken through the hardened walls of the building and was standing in a battle-ready position. And to their utter shock, it was Genkishi.

"I have returned to serve Byakuran-sama." He spoke.

At the sight of him, Arya felt an itchiness, a building sensation rise in her. _Excitement._ She wanted to cut this man to pieces and feed him to Alo. "Before we start, I would like to know how you came back to life." She said, her outer calm masking any and all emotion on her face. It was amazing how calm she was despite the rising desire in her to fight the man.

"Fool. Byakuran-sama would not kill me. I am his greatest and most loyal servant. I swore to make him a god. It was simply an illusion to fool the likes of you."

Without another word, he charged at her. The girl's staff snapped out, covered with incredibly strong storm flames. Kou was at her side. Feeling invincible, the two charged as one. The first time she met Genkishi's blow, she felt how strong the swordsman truly was. But she was unfazed. Under her breath, she started humming steadily. Tuneless music filled her ears and she danced to the beat, her weapon knocking away Genkishi's attacks. A look in the man's eyes warned her that he was about to use illusions. Her humming changed pitches and the sound waves wrapped around the incoming illusions. She dodged the blurs easily and leapt forward, her scythe slashing at Genkishi. It made a cut on the swordsman's face and he twitched in anger. He raised his sword and sent an attack at her. Sword slashes as well as illusionary missiles shot at her. She kept humming and danced around them.

Behind her she could hear Squalo and Hibari fighting the Funeral Wreathes. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kikyo send an attack towards where the Vongola Guardians were retreating. Fear filled her and she stopped humming, her body turning as if to throw itself in front of the boys to protect them. But Gokudera had brought out his Sistema C.A.I. and everything was okay. Except, Arya wasn't in tune with the sound waves anymore. And now they were just beating against her, the vibrations and noises, distracting her.

She twisted and barely avoided an attack from Genkishi. The calm aura surrounding her had disappeared and she was panicking. Genkishi wasn't giving her enough time or room to restart her synchronization with the sound waves around her. Kou leaped forward and roared, illuminating the illusionary sea-slugs briefly. She automatically twirled her staff and blocked their attacks but was caught unawares by Genkishi whose sword cut deeply into her side. She gasped and grabbed the bleeding wound. She made a hollow sound causing nearby sound waves to congregate around the slash and stop the bleeding. Genkishi bore down on her and laughed bitterly, "First Yamamoto Takeshi and now you. You Vongola are truly unlucky folk, aren't you? I fought you once before and you lost. Now, we are in the same situation."

The jeering caused Arya to struggle to her feet. She held her scythe out in front of her and growled, "I won't lose to the likes of you. A mere dog following its master."

Her comment enraged Genkishi, "You do not understand what I went through and what Byakuran-sama saved me from!"

She didn't respond, her eyes focused on his sword. She was timing its slashes and movements and matching her staff to them. She would have succeeded had it not been for the illusions that Genkishi was creating around her. Having been made aware that Arya was weak to those around her being injured, he was creating images of her loved ones being killed all around her. And although she knew they were fake, she couldn't help but worry. It was distracting her from her fight. She briefly wondered if this was how her future self had been defeated. The reminder made hatred bubble up once more and she threw herself at him, attacking blindly from rage this time. But the man standing there was an illusion. She twirled around, slashing at the sea-slugs flying towards her. All reason and technique lost, she was trapped within a realm of her worst nightmares.

Squalo died in front of her eyes once more and she threw her head back and screamed. The destructive power tore through the illusions and she opened her eyes to a stunned battlefield. Squalo and Hibari had stopped their attack to stare at her. The Vongola Guardians were watching her, worry clear on their faces. And Genkishi, the bastard was there once more. She was about to lunge forward to attack, when Squalo yelled, "Don't! Woman, get out of there!"

She glared at her opponent furiously and replied to the swordsman, "I can take him down Squalo! Don't underestimate me! Just because he defeated my future self doesn't mean he'll beat me too!"

She leaped forward but received a large slash to her left arm for her troubles. She hummed urgently and the sound waves stopped the bleeding. Kou jumped forward and roared, buying his mistress time and Arya closed her eyes, a buzzing noise rising from the back of her throat. She started snapping in time to the tuneless music only she could hear and when she opened her eyes again, her scythe was once again covered with powerful storm flames. She attacked fiercely.

For awhile it seemed as if she was holding her own, but it was clear that her injuries were getting to her. She stumbled, her side throbbing, and was thrown back.

"Woman! Just get out of there! Please!" Squalo pleaded.

Something in his voice made Arya turn to look at him. She smiled, a serene look on her face which twisted in pain a second later. Genkishi had stabbed her in the stomach. She stared at the sword protruding from her body with an odd fascination. There were screams all around her, and she fell to the ground on her knees, coughing blood. Her concentration broken, the sound waves wrapping the rest of her wounds came undone and she started bleeding profusely. She turned to look at Squalo for what she thought was one last time. The swordsman was saying something. She stared at him, trying to read his lips. "_I __fu-cking __lo-ve __you_" she mumbled under her breath. Is that what he was saying? She smiled wryly; only Squalo could turn even a confession into a battle cry.

She remembered the promise she had made with Bel to return safely, she remembered the promise she had made with herself to find out the truth about her and Squalo in the future. And then she stared at the bleeding wound. "_Fuck __this_" she thought. She was sick of losing, sick of depending on others, and especially sick of this asshole beating down on her.

She spit out blood and started singing, softly at first, but it slowly increased in volume and power. The sound waves returned to stop the bleeding and she stood unsteadily. Genkishi growled in annoyance, "How many times must I cut you to force you to stay down woman?"

She laughed dryly, "The only person in this world who can kill me is standing right over there" her hand pointed straight at Squalo, who was currently engaged in combat with Kikyo. The Funeral Wreath had decided that allowing the swordsman to encourage the girl was detrimental and decided to take it upon himself to distract him.

Her ring lit up brighter than ever and Kou grew dramatically in size, finally taking the appearance of a full grown cheetah male. He roared and the area in front of him was destroyed completely, causing Genkishi to hastily dodge the invisible attack. Arya continued singing, focusing on the sound waves in the area. They formed a globe around the swordsman pinning his movements completely, and she took a deep breath. The sound waves bunched together and she screamed powerfully. The attack tore through her opponent but he wasn't done. With his restraints gone, he activated his hell ring and began launching powerful attacks at her from the air. She jumped onto Kou's back and flew through the air to meet him. Her sound waves wrapped his attacks making them useless, and she turned them into mini bombs that were sent flying back at the man. He dodged his own attacks and tried to get closer to her.

This change in her behavior was baffling. It had to have something to do with Squalo, he decided. His eyes narrowed and he raised his sword. Arya raised her staff to defend but the attacks were aimed at the preoccupied silver haired swordsman. Seeing the attacks rushing towards the swordsman, something in the girl snapped. The sound waves around her stilled, no longer trying to fight against her control and they joined together to attack Genkishi. Kou roared at the attacks that he had sent at Squalo. The sound waves that had always fought her control before now obeyed her flawlessly. She flew straight at Genkishi who was busy fighting his invisible opponents. Building up speed, she leaped off Kou's back, twirled in the air twice, and brought her scythe crashing down on the swordsman. The blade sliced through the swordsman fluidly and the man went crashing to the ground. Kou caught her nimbly and she flew to where Genkishi lay.

Her eyes were cold as she bore down on him, "I could've forgiven you causing the future me to lose her voice. I could've forgiven you for almost killing me. I could've forgiven the grief you've caused everyone by betraying the Yuni. But when you decided to attack Squalo in order to weaken me, you sealed your fate."

He coughed blood but didn't attempt to get up again. "Perhaps your devotion to that swordsman was more powerful than mine to Byakuran-sama. I will get in your way no more. This is defeat."

Kou roared and Genkishi was no more. She turned and stumbled towards where the Vongola Guardians were still standing. Gokudera caught her as she fell and he mumbled, "Sorry for distracting you in the beginning of your fight. Leave the rest to us."

She smiled faintly and her eyes closed.

* * *

><p>When she woke up she was being carried on a stretcher by Gokudera and Yamamoto. There were a series of explosions behind her and she heard through her ear pierce shallow breathing and a familiar voice growling, "Vooiiii this'll end quicker than I thought…take Yuni and run…GET AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN!" There was static, an explosion, and then silence.<p>

Arya struggled on her stretcher, screaming, "Squalo! Let me back there!"

But the boys kept carrying her farther away. Tears poured down her eyes and she cried weakly, "Please…please let me go back!"

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

I finally updated! Thanks to everyone for being patient. I hope the super long battle scene wasn't too boring for anyone. I felt that it was important for Arya to battle Genkishi again so... Does anyone feel that her final power up was too forced? I'm a bit worried that the whole dramatic moment made her seem too cliched. D: Feedback is greatly appreciated!

The rest of the Varia are absent in this chapter but hopefully they'll show up in the next one? I'm not sure yet lol... but I'm working on it!

Please read and review~


	14. Chapter 14: The Funeral Wreaths

The sound of running feet echoed through the streets as they ran looking for the realtors that Haru had mentioned. Arya had stopped screaming and was silently fighting back tears. Her choked sobs filled the otherwise silent group. She struggled to control her breathing and calm down, but all she could think of was the last agonized scream she had heard from Squalo. Squalo, who could be seriously injured, or _dead_. "Don't think about it," she thought furiously, "He's fine. There's no way the stupid bastard would die so easily."

By the time they had reached Kawahira's Realtors, Arya had become silent and was lying on the stretcher without a word. After reviewing their options, they rushed in to hide behind furniture. Meanwhile the man named Kawahira went to stand outside casually. They all waited with bated breath when they heard Zakuro start yelling at the man. The door slammed open and Arya fought to keep her bloodlust down. She couldn't emit a killing intent; that would be a dead giveaway.

Finally after what seemed to be forever, Zakuro flew away, chasing after nonexistent enemies in the mountains. They all breathed sighs of relief, and thanked the man for his kindness. Arya gingerly sat up in her stretcher and looked around. Tears sprang to her eyes unbidden again. Before she could wipe them away, Yamamoto took her hand, understanding and sympathy clear in the way he looked at her. She could only clutch at his hand helplessly.

* * *

><p>"Yamamoto… you're really going back to the base… no matter what, huh?" Tsuna asked.<p>

"Yep. Sorry, but you're not going to stop me. This is Squalo we're talking about, so I'm sure he'll be just fine, but I have to check."

"Bianchi, Spanner, and Giannini will take care of him" Arya said grimly. She looked at Yamamoto and said, "I can't go because of my condition, so I'm trusting you to take care of him."

The boy nodded seriously and then stood up to leave. He opened the door a crack and murmured, "I don't sense any hostility…looks clear."

At that moment Lambo burst out, "Lambo-san is gonna go play with you guys as well! Where are we going, huh?"

They shushed him hurriedly and the group left. Lambo continued whining, asking Yuni to play with him. Tsuna suddenly said, "Yuni, you're not looking too great. Is something wrong?"

"Chrome-chan isn't looking too good either" Kyoko said.

"No…Boss…" Chrome said weakly.

There's someone…something…nearby…" Yuni whispered.

"An enemy?" The guys started rushing to defend the entrances, but Yuni said, "No…it's much closer…"

"Boss! The cow-boy!" Chrome cried.

They all looked at Lambo whose image started dissipating. He smirked evilly, "Well, you see… Attacking from the outside and having you run away is awfully tiresome, so I took a different tactic…"

Suddenly, the Funeral Wreath, Torikabuto had Yuni in his clutches. He started flying towards the exit where Basil, Gokudera, and Ryohei were blocking his way. Arya weakly hummed, creating a barrier in front of the door so that he couldn't leave.

A sudden explosion however destroyed both the entrance and her barrier, and Torikabuto joined Kikyo and Bluebell. Bluebell smirked and started attacking. With the Guardians already injured from the explosion and Tsuna and Reborn unable to move from their spots; the situation looked truly grim. Suddenly, two lightning covered blurs shot at Torikabuto who dropped Yuni. The two black foxes caught the Sky Arcobaleno gently. "Are you all right, Princess?" a blonde man asked.

"Gamma!" she cried.

Two others showed up as well and she incredulously whispered, "Nosaru? Tazaru?"

Torikabuto flew towards Yuni, but Nosaru and Tazaru flew to intercept him. They struck at the Funeral Wreath, but were both severely injured in an instant. Gamma growled and his foxes streaked towards the Wreath, but were beaten just as quickly. At that moment, Torikabuto was viciously struck and quiet voice said, "Where do you think you're looking? Your opponent is right here."

Tsuna was in hyper dying will mode, ready to attack. Torikabuto chose at that moment to open the box imbedded in his body. What appeared before them was a giant moth-like creature. They immediately began panicking at the illusion that covered the area. Arya struggled to sit up, not understanding what was going on. Was there something out there? Kikyo smirked with his eyes closed, "Those who look into the eyes of the evolved moth form will instantly lose their five senses and their grasp of reality."

Arya immediately stopped struggling and closed her eyes. She concentrated on the sound waves being emitted by the gentle flapping of the creature above them. A soft voice called, "Boss, to the right of the sky girl!"

Tsuna immediately charged and hit the invisible Torikabuto with his fist. "Down! All the way down!" she cried.

Arya started humming and the sound waves responded to her silent command by restraining the Funeral Wreath, preventing him from moving and allowing Tsuna to hit him directly. Kikyo tried to fly to Torikabuto to give him help, commenting, "You could have won a one-on-one, but he got support" however a barrage of shots stopped him. Reborn was riding on Alfin, Basil's rain dolphin, "This is how the Vongola family fights."

The girl Bluebell started pouting and raging. She opened her shirt to open her Carnage Box, but was stopped by Kikyo. At that moment, Tsuna unleashed a full-blown X-Burner attack on Torikabuto. The two remaining Funeral Wreathes grabbed the Mist user and flew away.

The silence that settled over the Vongola was broken when Arya took charge. "Kyoko, Haru, help me sit up so I can assess the damage. Tsuna, help Ryohei back down here. Gamma-san, please bring Yuni down here."

She was carefully propped up by the two girls, and she took a look around. Gokudera and Basil were on the ground, nursing back injuries from the explosion. Ryohei seemed to have the same trouble. Nosaru and Tazaru had gashes that were still bleeding on their sides. Shouichi was still on his stretcher, albeit with no new injuries. Gamma seemed to be injured, presumably from an earlier battle. The only ones that were in any fighting condition were Tsuna, Reborn, Lambo, and I-Pin. She sighed and hummed. Sound waves wrapped around Nosaru and Tazaru's injuries, stopping the bleeding. She rapped out instructions quickly, "Gokudera and Basil support each other. Tsuna and Ryohei, if you can manage it, please carry Lal. Nosaru-san and Tazaru-san can support each other as well. Gamma-san, please carry Shouichi-san's stretcher. Kyoko, Haru, Chrome, and Yuni, please make sure Lambo and I-Pin don't wander off. We have to get out of here and fast."

"Eh, Arya, what about you?" Tsuna asked.

The girl ignored her in favor of humming. The sound waves stabilized her injury and allowed her to get up. The others felt relief in their injuries as well and they wearily got up. "No good Tsuna, where are we going to go?" Reborn asked.

He stuttered for a moment but seeing the injuries on the people around him, he made up his mind, "We'll go back to the forest."

* * *

><p>Arya gulped the water down greedily, her throat dry from humming for so long. She had found out that although she could control the sound waves from other people, her power was much more effective when it was her own sound waves. When it came to treating injuries, she didn't want to risk anything. She leaned back against the tree and brought out Kou. The cheetah was in its smallest form due to Arya's exhaustion, but he cuddled against the girl and purred nevertheless.<p>

She closed her eyes and tried to shut everything out, needing to sleep; but the tension that radiated around the camp was too much. Her eyes snapped open when Yuni stopped Nosaru in a fight between him and Shouichi. The Sky Arcobaleno calmed the two sides and then continued speaking to all of them. The girl's soothing voice washed over her and Arya felt the exhaustion of her battle with Genkishi, her fear for Squalo, and the day's events all weigh down on her. Her eyelids started drooping and a moment later, she was fast asleep.

"Hey, that Delfino Di Pioggia I saw in the last battle- who's was it?" Gamma asked.

"That would be my Alfin" Basil piped up.

"Has it been brain-coated with the other box weapons?"

"Brain-coated…?"

"Don't tell me you don't know about it… Its an ability only possible with the high intelligence level of the Delfino de Pioggia. It's also known as the "inter-box combination launch system."

They chattered excitedly and decided to open their boxes.

"Ah! That stupid woman has gone to sleep! Just when we're making out super important plans! How dare she disrespect Juudaime!" Gokudera cried.

Tsuna looked over at the sleeping Arya and said, "Ah, well, Arya's box weapon is out already so there's no need to wake her up. She must be really tired."

Kou reluctantly left his mistress to greet the other box weapons. Uri became all starry-eyed when she saw the cheetah and began following him everywhere. On the other hand, she took an immediate disliking to Natsu, Tsuna's box weapon. Deciding it needed to man up, she pounced on the scaredy-cat. Kou bounded over and separated the two fighting cats, scolding Uri in the process. The proud female leopard purred and rubbed against him. Gokudera and Tsuna watched the entire proceeding in shock and disbelief.

But the crush that Uri had developed on Kou lightened some of the tension and they began to plan their attack for the next day. They woke Arya up to brief her quickly. The girl nodded wearily, looking as if she had aged 10 years. She clutched her stomach wound and rubbed her eyes, as if to get rid of any lasting images from her dreams.

* * *

><p>The centipede shot out and wrapped itself around Zakuro. Two foxes hit him immediately afterwards and while he was distracted, Gokudera aimed an attack directly at the Funeral Wreath. As he coughed out blood, Kou roared, covering him in storm flames. Zakuro spit out the blood in his mouth and roared, "Ha! I'm on a completely different level than Daisy and Torikabuto, imbeciles!" He inserted his ring into the box in his body. An incredibly powerful storm flame aura surrounded his body and when it had faded away, a monster was floating in the air above them. Zakuro had taken on the characteristics of a T-Rex.<p>

"What the hell is that?" Gokudera shouted.

Lal exclaimed, "It's enormous compared to the others! And it's got claws and a tail!"

"Calling it a lizard would be a huge understatement…" Gamma said grimly.

Arya didn't say anything; she was busy humming under her breath, ready to provide support to the people fighting with her. Zakuro disappeared in a flash and before they could blink, he was in front of the girl, flinging her out of the way with a swipe of his claws. She was unable to fight back in her state and could only bring a weak barrier up. She hit a tree and struggled to sit up. Kou leaped over to her and helped her to stand. He stood in front of his mistress protectively. Arya hummed urgently, bringing up a barrier between Zakuro and Gokudera, who was the only one left standing. He used the time she bought to get Uri to turn into Cambio Forma. He fired a single powerful shot at the Funeral Wreath who was forced back. But immediately the dinosaur managed to get behind the Storm Guardian. Arya hummed again, providing a protective layer between Gokudera and the razor sharp teeth that were seeking to bite into his shoulder. He fired a round of gatling arrows but they were ineffective. Enraged at Arya's interference, Zakuro threw a wave of storm flames at the girl. Unable to support herself, she fell backwards while bringing her staff out to repel the attack.

Zakuro charged up and went in for a powerful attack but Gokudera couldn't seem to turn around. Kou roared and Uri responded, letting out a burst of flame that propelled the boy around to directly face the attacking monster. Gokudera fired a powerful attack, yelling, "DIE!"

When the smoke cleared, Zakuro was missing an arm. Gokudera prepared for the final blow, but at that moment a torrent of attacks came from the sky. It was another Funeral Wreath, Bluebell. She opened the box in her body and fired an attack at them at the same time Zakuro did. Arya tried humming weakly to get a barrier up but it was no use. She was too weak and the sound waves refused to listen to her.

As she closed her eyes in defeat, she thought of Squalo. "I'm sorry" she thought.

At that moment another roar destroyed Bluebell's attack while a familiar electric ray blocked Zakuro's. "Having a nice little chat, huh?" Xanxus growled, stepping into view, "You scum."

"Boss" Arya mumbled weakly while Gokudera shouted.

"Go and tell Sawada, that Ninth's immediate independent assassination group, beneath the flag of Vongola, will assist those that wear the Vongola rings."

"You…came to help…us?" Gokudera asked weakly.

Bel snickered, "Ushishishishi, how pathetic! And you call yourself the storm guardian?"

"You knife bastard!"

Bel stood over Arya and laughed humorlessly, "What's this? Didn't the Principessa promise to come back uninjured?"

"Prince" she breathed softly, "I took care of Genkishi as promised."

He helped her up and carried over to where the rest of the group was with Kou's help. Uri immediately bounded over to the now huge cheetah and meowed affectionately. He purred and let her rub against one of his legs.

"By the way, where's Squalo?" Lussuria asked.

Arya stiffened and looked away. "…He was attacked…and Yamamoto and the others are searching for him…" Gokudera responded reluctantly.

"Ha. Died, did he?" Xanxus scoffed.

The rest of the Varia responded similarly. Bel turned to Arya, "Why isn't the Principessa with Sharky?"

"He's not dead" she responded firmly.

Zakuro laughed, "Oh, he's dead alright. I killed the idiot myself."

Her eyes flashed with pure rage and she turned in direction and screamed. At the same time, Kou roared. The powerful attack of sound waves and storm flames forced the two Funeral Wreaths to fly further out of range. "Come down here and I'll fucking murder you" Arya hissed.

"Anyway, who are they? Some weirdoes have appeared." Bluebell said, pouting.

"It's Vongola's independent assassination group, Varia. Well, all we have to do is snuff them out too."

"Let's see you try, scum" Xanxus growled, a flame of rage appearing in his palm.

"Listen Xanxus! They've already found a way around your tactics in parallel

worlds…you'd better not use moves that take a predictable shape!" Gokudera shouted urgently.

"Shut up" the man replied, not stopping.

"Wipe them out" he ordered. Bester leaped forward and roared.

Bluebell and Zakuro sent their own attacks in response, and the battle began.

Arya watched as the Varia team fought together and smiled, relief flooding her body and allowing her to relax for the first time in awhile. When Fran tapped her on the shoulder from behind a tree, she slid into the shadows quietly without protest, her presence completely gone. A second later, the Varia had been replaced by illusions.

* * *

><p>"What an easy victory."<p>

"We did it, Kikyo!"

"Finally, Vongola's defense has been wiped out." Kikyo smiled.

"No surprise there. This overwhelming power is what makes us the real six funeral wreaths."

"Well now, let's go to where Yuni-sama is."

Suddenly the velociraptor heads around them began morphing into the faces of the Vongola Guardians. They taunted the Funeral Wreaths and began to attack them. "What's going on, Kikyo?" Zakuro yelled.

"This is impossible…an illusion!" He sent an attack towards where a murderous presence was emanating from.

"Heyyy, you just took a sly step forward, master. You always want to stand in the middle." A monotone voice said.

"Kufufu, what are you saying, little one?" The mist disappeared, revealing Rokudo Mukuro, "It's because your head is in the way."

"You always get the spotlight."

The Vongola Guardians, Kokuyo gang and Varia appeared as well, arguing.

"Is the illusion thing over?" Ryohei asked loudly.

"We waited ten seconds because you asked!" Bel said angrily.

"How dare you go over by thirty whole seconds!" Lussuria exclaimed.

"Tch. Ah, I accidentally clicked my tongue." Fran responded dully.

"Do you mean to say, that the ones we killed were all illusion?" Bluebell exclaimed.

Mukuro replied laughing, "Warm up is over!"

As Mukuro continued to banter with the Funeral Wreaths, Bel turned and said, "Hey Fran. Tricking the enemy with illusions is fine and all, but did we really have to die?" He started idly playing with some knives.

"You're missing the point here, Bel-sempai. It had to be realistic. Illusions are kinda like pranks, right master?" Fran answered, turning to Mukuro.

"You're wrong" the illusionist said point blank.

"Oops…"

"You little…" Bel seethed.

"Then it's probably master's hobby of slasher themes." Fran tried again.

"Wrong again" Mukuro said, stabbing his trident through the boy's frog hat.

"Master, that hurts. Stop it." Fran said, although neither his face nor his voice showed any signs of pain.

"There are two reasons for the illusions this time. One is serving as my warm-up, and the other is to gather data on the real 6 funeral wreaths' power." Mukuro explained. "By giving them a feeling of superiority with the illusions, I succeeded in gathering data on Bluebell's absolute defense territory, and Kikyo's method of attack from the ground."

"Nyu" Bluebell pouted.

"Gotcha!" Fran said in a dull voice, pretending to go along with his master.

"'Gotcha' my ass!" Bel growled, flinging a row of knives at the boy's head. "Anyway, how long are you gonna keep Rokudo Mukuro's illusion up? That guy's still in the Vindice cell."

"Oh, haven't you heard? That pineapple hair isn't an illusion. It's the real thing on a full scale. I helped my master escape from the cells of Vindice."

Shocked, they turned to stare at Mukuro, who preened under the attention. Ken grinned, "Isn't Mukuro-san amazing?"

"Ken-niisan, you make things complicated so could you keep your mouth shut?" Fran piped up immediately.

"What? What'd you say, Fran?" the animal-like boy yelled in indignation.

From behind him, Chikusa sighed, "Calm down Ken."

"Hahan, so that's how it is. If Rokudo Mukuro's apprentice was the one who was able to hoodwink Vindice, then it all makes sense."

"Yay, I'm a celebrity now, master!" Fran said emotionlessly.

Mukuro stabbed him again, "Silence little one." He turned to Xanxus, "I must thank you for looking after my incapable apprentice."

Xanxus glared back at the illusionist. "Either way, we didn't need your useless help" Hibari said, holding up his tonfas.

"You mustn't put on airs, Hibari Kyouya. Someone of your intelligence would know that it's only with the knowledge of their ways, that we are truly able to comprehend the greatness of the real 6 funeral wreaths."

Arya stretched, having been healed with Lussuria's box weapon as Fran called, "Okay everyone, rehearsal's over!"

Above them Zakuro flexed his newly regenerated arm and roared, "You lost your chance fools!"

Bel snickered, "Ushishishi, you're the fools. We just waited for you."

"What?" Zakuro glared at them.

"Boss only wanted to eliminate you in your best state!"

The battle had just started when a chilling feel crept down Arya's spine. Noticing that everyone including the Millefiore had stopped their attacks, she lowered her staff and looked around. A large transparent being was walking slowly towards them. They began attacking it but the attacks went straight through the creature. "Stop" she whispered. But no one heard her. An unsettling feeling was bothering her. The Vongola Guardians unleashed a combined Box Weapon attack and she shrieked, "Don't!"

It was too late and the attack crashed into the creature. A large explosion covered the area and when the smoke cleared, Uri's mangled body came flying back. Immediately, beams of light began flying out of the large Byakuran-look-alike creature. One of them attached to Bluebell. The girl disappeared with a scream. Another beam of light hit Levi's box weapon and it shattered. Xanxus growled and fired two shots of flame at it. The flame was immediately absorbed.

Arya could feel her flames being drawn away from her and towards the creature. She gritted her teeth and yanked the ring off. Immediately, the pressure disappeared. "Take off your rings! This is no time to worry about the enemy! We'll all be drained if this keeps up!" she shouted.

But they were all too panicked to listen to her words. Ghost turned and began on a path that would lead straight to Yuni. Two beams of light shot straight towards where Ryohei and Gokudera were resting. "Someone…anyone, protect them!" her voice rose in a crescendo.

The beams of light struck a sword and Yamamoto grimaced, "Looks like hell's broken loose here."

"I'd heard about it, but this flame absorption…it's a lot worse that I expected…I'm getting weaker by the second." He commented.

"Nevertheless, we need to stop that giant!" a familiar voice said.

"Bucking Bronco and Squalo!"

Arya turned to see Squalo limp out of the tress, supported by Dino. "You're late scum!" Xanxus growled.

"Ngh…well, sorry!" Squalo grimaced.

"What were you doing? We were waiting!" Lussuria exclaimed, pouting.

Levi frowned, "So you were alive, were you?"

"What a shame." Bel panted.

"There are two people who seem very disappointed by your survival, captain." Fran commented.

Arya raced towards the man, unaware of anything else around her. She was 5 feet away, then 3, then 1. He was right there. She stretched out her hand and gasped. A ray of light had hit her. Her eyes widened as she felt the flames in her being sucked out at an incredible pace. "Squalo" she whispered.

And then she screamed. The agony of having her flames being forcibly vacuumed out of her body was unbearable. The sound waves around her responded to her frantic cries and began pulsating all around her. They surrounded her, pulling her back. Her eyes flew open and her form stabilized.

"Why didn't she disappear?" Kikyo questioned, "Both Zakuro and Bluebell were killed."

"I don't take energy from only flames" she panted, "Sorry to disappoint you…"

She collapsed on the ground in a dead faint.

"Woman!"

"Principessa!"

"Arya!"

* * *

><p>In the end, she missed the final battle between Tsuna and Byakuran. According to Ryohei however, it had been extremely intense and he definitely wanted Sawada to join his boxing club. Arya laughed at the simple way Ryohei thought about things.<p>

She found Squalo a little while later after her body had recovered enough. They stood next to each other in silence. "I won't ask you anything" she said.

His smile was bitter, "Go back to your time and ask the me of then."

She wrapped her arms around him and murmured, "This isn't goodbye. You'll see me in a few minutes."

He didn't turn around when she left.

A few minutes later, a rustle in the bushes signaled the arrival of someone new. He turned and embraced Arya. "Welcome back il mio amore."

The woman smiled and whispered, "I never really left."

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

First off I just wanted to say I am so sorry this took so long... I actually had this chapter done for a really long time but I thought I had already posted it and was supposed to put up chapter 15. 0_o Heh heh, funny story... D: I hope the chapter's good enough for the super long wait? Also, chapter 15 is halfway done, but I'm running low on inspiration and I've gotten distracted on catching up on all the animes I'm watching this season. Teehee... so my updates will probably be coming more and more slowly.

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed who have blocked private messaging, were anonymous, or were too lazy to log in for reviewing. I really appreciate it and it really encourages me to keep writing. Thanks a bunch!

Just a quick question because I'm too lazy to make a poll for this: Should I continue this story into the Inheritance Ceremony arc or should I end it here? The way I'm writing chapter 15 so far makes it possible to continue, but I'm not sure if I should. Even if I do, I'll be catching up to the manga really soon, and my updates will all either be fillers or I'll have to put this on hiatus for awhile. Anyways, any feedback or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks ahead of time!

Read and review please~

Oh, by the way. Yes, I changed my username from snowlemur26 to PsychelicFlame. No reason, I just got bored lol. ^_^ I'm still the same person though, I promise. )


	15. Chapter 15: Return to the Present

Arya timidly raised a hand press the bell to the Varia mansion. Before she could do so however, the door opened and a servant came out to greet her. The man bowed politely, "Ishigeaki-sama, we have been waiting for you."

"Eh…what?" she stuttered.

"Please follow me to where Xanxus-sama is."

She stumbled along after the man. The mansion hadn't changed except for one notable thing. There was no noise. The entire place was completely silent. The servant led her to the dining hall and announced solemnly, "Xanxus-sama, Ishigeaki-sama has arri-"

He was cut off with a glass of wine to the head and dropped to the floor comically. Arya winced and after making sure the man was fine, quietly slipped into the room. There awaiting her eyes was the assembled Varia, eating without a care in the world. She stood awkwardly in front of the door, unsure of what to do until Xanxus snapped, "Oi, trash. If you ever try to fucking disappear like that again, I'll kill you myself."

Bel grinned, "Ushishishi Principessa, you're finally back. We've been waiting for you."

She stuttered, "But…I betrayed you…you kicked me out, right?"

Mammon frowned, "That would mean losing money. Unacceptable."

Lussuria sprang out of his seat and twirled his way over to the girl, "Arya darling! How I've missed you!" He giggled giddily and whispered in her ear, "And I'm not the only one!"

"You're not asking where I've been for the past…how long has it been?" she asked suspiciously.

"Ushishishi We received memories of the future and Byakuran, was it?" Bel replied simply, "How dare he try to take away the Prince's Principessa."

"The Boss said that you're still a part of the Varia, so you are." Levi said gruffly, before returning to his dinner.

So far the only person who hadn't said a word was Squalo. Arya looked at him hesitantly, but he refused to make eye contact with her.

* * *

><p>Squalo was practicing his swordsmanship in the morning as always when Arya found him. She watched him quietly for awhile, hiding her presence. It only took him a few minutes to realize that she was there and he grunted, "What do you want?"<p>

She came out of her hiding spot and said, "I'm sorry for leaving."

The man stopped mid-slash and turned to stare at her, "You think I'm angry about that?"

Confused, she responded, "Then you're not?"

"Voii of course I am! You fucking just went and decided on your own to leave! I didn't fucking tell you you could leave, did I?"

"And I told you that I'm sorry!" she fumed.

He laughed bitterly and suddenly slashed his sword at her. The girl darted out of the way in the nick of time and cursed, "Fuck Squalo! What is your problem? I told you I was sorry!"

"Let me see how strong you got in the future" he replied.

Wide-eyed with disbelief, she whispered, "Is that what this is about? You're angry because I got stronger than you?"

He didn't respond and continued to attack. She whipped her staff out to block his attacks. Before he could try anything complicated, she hummed, wrapping his feet in sound waves and successfully stopping his advances. "You're an asshole Squalo. Here I am, coming back in the hopes that-"

"Hopes of what?" Squalo growled angrily.

Her anger dissipated in a matter of seconds and she blankly mumbled, "Never mind. I guess I should've known that the future would be different from the past. I'll leave you alone to train. You should focus on getting stronger than me."

She turned on her heels and left, the sound waves unwrapped themselves and Squalo found he could move again. He dropped to the ground and muttered "Shit…"

* * *

><p>"VOOIIII Stop fucking avoiding me trash!" Squalo roared, finally snapping.<p>

Arya ignored him and left the dining room without a single backwards glance. The swordsman growled and got up to follow her. He ignored Bel's glare and the disapproving look he was getting from Lussuria. Over the past week, Arya had avoided Squalo like the plague and it was obvious that the other members of the Varia had caught on to the fact that something was wrong. Squalo scowled and ran to catch up with the girl. He caught her by the shoulder just as she was about to enter her room and pinned her to the wall. "Voii what the fuck is your problem?"

She looked at him emotionlessly, "I don't have a problem, I just don't want to be around you right now."

He glared at her, "And why the hell is that?"

"I got transported to the future only to find out with relief that I was still in the Varia. But the future me had lost her voice. She was unable to speak to anyone. Unable to say the things she wanted to. It was a bleak future but I was able to move on and conquer that with the support of the future Varia. It took me forever to master my power so that I could be a proud member of the Varia that wouldn't lose to anyone. I battled and defeated Genkishi, a powerful swordsman who had beaten the future me and caused her to lose her voice. I should've been paralyzed with fear but one thought kept me going. I wanted to go back to my time. Because despite how wonderful everyone in the future was, they still weren't the people I loved most."

She gasped for air and continued, "I finally got back home. It was like I had never been gone. Prince was still attention-craving, Luss-nee-chan was still trying to drag me to go shopping at every possible moment, Levi still followed Boss around like a lost puppy, and Boss still threw expensive wine glasses. Mammon even demanded that I pay a fee for returning late. Everyone but you was the same. Even though I tried so hard to make it back in one piece because I wanted to see you, I came back and found that you had changed. And now I don't know how to face you. Because you see me as an opponent and rival only, and I can't suppress my emotions anymore."

She rubbed away the tears that were filling her eyes. Ranting had taken a load off her shoulders, but it had also brought old wounds floating to the surface. "So if you understand, could you please leave me alone for awhile?" she whispered.

He stared at her intently for a moment and then hung his head, cursing under his breath. He looked around and then dragged her into her room, slamming the door behind him. He faced her seriously and muttered, "I'm only going to say this once so listen carefully."

He took a deep shaky breath and said, "You're not just a rival to me, okay? Otherwise you would've been dead by now. I haven't killed you so I…I probably fucking love you or something."

Arya's eyes widened and she stared at him, speechless. "But we're fucking assassins! We can't have a normal relationship, so-"

He was cut off when Arya flung her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug, her face pressed against his chest. She mumbled, "I don't care about any of that. I really don't."

He frowned, "Look, I'm not enough of a dick to force you to follow me around while I'm training. We're too fucking different."

"Hey Squalo, did you know that in the future, we were mar-"

Loud screams from somewhere in the mansion near them forced the two to separate. They ran out and followed the sounds to the kitchen. There, they found Bel standing, knives poised to be flung at the poor terrified kitchen staff. Already, a number of them were on the ground dead, their bodies littered with knives, or sliced apart by wires. At the sound of the Arya and Squalo running in, Bel turned. His eyes landed on the girl and then they slowly swiveled over to the swordsman standing next to her. His eyes narrowed and his knives went whistling towards Squalo.

The silver-haired man knocked the knives away, sending them flying into a wall. "VOII WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" he roared angrily.

Bel hissed, "It's all your fault" and then shoved past the two to run out of the kitchen. "Prince!" Arya called after him, but he ignored her.

She sighed, "We'll have to finish our conversation some other time."

She left Squalo to deal with the terrified kitchen staff, which he did by violently waving his sword around, "VOII Clean up this mess and start cooking dinner! If his fucking steak isn't done on time, that shitty boss is gonna throw shit at me again!"

* * *

><p>"Prince!" Arya called, finally spotting the blonde boy huddled in a corner of their favorite balcony.<p>

He turned away from her, a sullen pout on his face. She carefully sat down next to him and took one of his hands in hers, holding it quietly. They sat like that in silence for awhile, before Bel spoke. "You promised that I would always be your number one prince. You're breaking your promise for that peasant?"

"Squalo is a peasant" Arya nodded in agreement, "That's why he can't replace Prince. Prince has a special place in my heart too, but it's a different than how I feel about Squalo."

Bel frowned, "Principessa shouldn't like anyone but me."

Arya softly laughed at this, "Prince, you know that's not possible. I'm not a hermit. I'm bound to meet people that I'll like. Just like you will Prince."

Bel shook his head obstinately, reminding her of when he was still a child, "You said one friend was enough so I'm sticking with Mammy. The Prince doesn't need anyone else."

"Oh Prince" she whispered before pulling him into a warm hug. With her chin resting on his head, she mumbled, "You're still the only prince in my heart. Think of Squalo as sort of a pet."

"Pet?" he asked.

She nodded, "Well, yes. He is a shark after all. And I guess you could keep sharks as pets right?"

He huffed angrily, "Should turn the stupid long haired commander into shark fin soup."

Arya giggled, "I don't think he would taste very good in liquid form, Prince."

She looked him in the eyes and asked, "Are you okay?"

Still pouting a little, the boy nodded reluctantly, "The Prince is better than a pet after all."

She started to pull away but he held onto her, not wanting the hug to end. She complied and a few hours later, his head was on her lap and they were chattering away like gossiping old ladies. He told her about Squalo's idiocy while she was gone and she told him about the future and Fran, who she was convinced, was the perfect friend for the unpredictably violent boy.

* * *

><p>"So are the two of you fucking now or something?" Levi asked suspiciously a few nights later.<p>

Arya choked on a mouthful of water and started coughing violently. Squalo froze and looked at the girl for clarification, only to be thwarted when she started dying on the floor. Lussuria had leaped up and started squealing about how "he was right" and "they made the perfect couple" and "it was so sweet". Mammon glanced up, wondering if the information could be sold for a profit. Xanxus seemed to flinch a little but continued eating his steak as if he hadn't heard a word. Bel glared ominously at the umbrella man, promising a knife in the ass later that day.

By the time Arya had stopped choking, Squalo was spluttering uselessly, trying to think of a way to answer the question. "Levi, is there a reason you need to know?" she asked cautiously, still trying to get the water out of her throat.

"Fucking pervert" Squalo growled.

"If it'll affect your performance and give Boss a bad name, then I have to stop you! No one will be allowed to bring shame to Boss as long as I live!" Levi declared.

"Ushishishi Then how about I carve you up right here" Bel suggested.

"Nuuoo! You little brat! I'll fry you to pieces!"

"You can't fry someone to pieces" Arya muttered under her breath, almost able to hear Fran's monotone voice say the comment in her place.

She watched as the argument between the two dissolved into a full-blown fight and sighed happily. It was truly good to be home.

At least until Xanxus started throwing alcohol around. As soon as she had this thought, the man promptly launched an empty cognac battle at Levi's head, knocking the man out, and growled, "Shut up trash."

And that was that. No one defied Xanxus. Or at least they didn't until Xanxus repeated the question himself. "You two pieces of trash fucking now or what?"

Before Squalo could blow up and destroy the dining room, Arya answered with an intelligent, "Eh, why do you care Boss?"

This comment was followed by another empty alcohol bottle. Some day she would have to smack him on the head with one of his bottles so that he knew how much it hurt she thought, but then after narrowly dodging another projectile, she shook her head. She wasn't suicidal. "We're not in that kind of relationship asshole" Squalo growled finally after much threatening and broken glass.

"Wait you're not?"

"Wait we're not?"

Bel and Arya spoke simultaneously. Squalo waved his sword around angrily, "Of course not! Last thing I fucking need is a brat running around this house of insane idiots!"

He pointed the sword at Arya and said, "And you! Try to have a little more awareness, will you?"

She opened her mouth to whine but Xanxus interrupted before she could. "Oi trash. In a week, the inheritance ceremony is taking place. I'm not going."

"If Boss isn't going, then neither am I…" Levi mumbled groggily from his position on the floor.

"Shut up trash. You're going with the rest of them." Xanxus snapped and smashed another bottle on the man's head, successfully putting him back to sleep.

"What's the big deal Boss? Why tell us so early on?" Lussuria asked.

"A bunch of families are trying to assassinate that brat while they still can. The old man wants to send someone as extra protection." Xanxus glanced at Arya, "You're going."

She nodded solemnly. A mission was a mission. Romance would have to wait.

* * *

><p>~Years later~<p>

"To your right!" Arya shouted.

"I can take care of myself woman!" Squalo yelled, slicing his enemy cleaning in half.

The girl rolled her eyes and sent a wave of storm flames at the incoming enemy, slowing them down and injuring a few. "Hey, it's only a few left! Cover me Sharky!" she called behind her back, while running directly at the enemy.

The swordsman growled and sent Alo to take down the enemies that were trying to stop the girl. She positioned herself in the middle of the remaining enemy and took a deep breath. She released a high pitched screech and the sound waves around her immediately wiped out the enemy within a 15 meter radius. She panted, "Haven't used that one in awhile… looks like my range improved again!"

The silver haired swordsman walked over and smacked her on the head and reprimanded her, "Voi woman, if you're going to do crazy shit like that, give me a warning next time!"

She grinned and headed for the stairs, "I hope the boss didn't already get away Sharky. I don't know what we'll tell Boss."

He roared, "VOOIIII Obviously we'll just have to track that piece of trash down! And I don't give a damn about what the shitty boss says!"

Arya threw her head back and laughed. "That's right; you only answer to me now, don't you?"

Squalo grunted but didn't deny it. They found the boss's room and kicked it open. To her bemusement, the man was still there, dumping his treasures into a large bag. She raised an eyebrow, "You've saved us quite a bit of work, but I can't believe you would think of your treasure rather than your own life."

Squalo scowled, "Oi, shut up and kill him already woman."

She sighed and sent the man to hell with one strike. As the two of them exited the mansion, Squalo muttered, "I can't believe you wear that ring even on missions."

She glanced down at the simple diamond ring on her finger and smiled, her eyes glowing with happiness, "Well, this is my vow to always stay Arya Superbi, isn't it?"

He pulled her closer to him and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "Voi and don't you forget it."

The ring sparkled quietly back in agreement at the both of them.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

It's been a ridiculously long time since I've updated and I apologize for that, but here's the last chapter of Sonic Life! Most of the people who reviewed said they preferred to end the story as it was, so I decided to go ahead and do that. But! I will be continuing this story in a sequel so look forward to that. It will be awhile until I do that however because I want to wait until the manga is a bit further along.

Also, I'll be starting another fanfic (other than Collared) since I'm ending this one so look forward to that!

I'd like to thank everyone who's been reading this and keeping up with it. Thank you so much for your support and reviews!

Read and review please~

Happy New Years or New Year's Eve depending on where you are!


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